From Investment to Culture... Kyobo Life Establishes ESG Management Roots

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Kyobo Life Insurance announced on the 17th that its 'Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management' is successfully taking root.

Kyobo Life Insurance's ESG management is rapidly becoming part of the corporate culture. According to the company, some teams have long abandoned the unconscious use of paper cups and the habit of printing documents without consideration. All department members agree that it is important to practice concrete and small actions to protect the environment and have endured inconveniences as a result.

Recently, through the 'Kyobo Gets Proud (ESG) Eco Together Campaign,' the company has been promoting an organizational culture where employees can voluntarily participate in environmental protection activities in their daily lives by holding idea contests for environmental protection.

Employees pledge to follow easy rules that can be practiced in daily life, such as 'using computer power-saving functions,' 'lowering heating temperature by 2 degrees and raising cooling temperature by 2 degrees,' and 'using stairs instead of elevators when moving.' The company donates two Hope Trees, which are used for carbon reduction, livelihood income support, and forest restoration.

Kyobo Life Insurance also established a Sustainability ESG Committee as one of the board committees to ensure consistent promotion of ESG management activities and set up a support system centered on the ESG Working Council, led by heads of operational departments.

Through strengthening ESG management activities and external communication, including ESG disclosures, the company plans to establish an ESG management foundation and promote ESG management that considers the requests of stakeholders such as customers and investors.

At the regular general meeting held in March, two female outside directors were newly appointed?Moon Hyo-eun, CEO of Art Ventures, and Lee Young-joo, Director of the Human Rights Counseling Center at Seoul National University?strengthening ESG management from a governance perspective. Currently, Kyobo Life Insurance is the only company in the insurance industry with two or more female outside directors.

To proactively prepare for the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 17) and the new solvency regime (K-ICS) scheduled to be implemented next year, Kyobo Life Insurance also issued $500 million (approximately 625 billion KRW) worth of hybrid capital securities overseas. As with last year, these were issued in the form of ESG bonds, strengthening core business competitiveness while fulfilling corporate social responsibility.

A Kyobo Life Insurance official stated, "Unlike focusing solely on ESG-related achievements or expanding systems, we are concentrating on solidifying our foundation through feasible business initiatives."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.