"Reducing 100 Million Tons of Carbon by 2050"… SK Innovation Publishes 'Net Zero Special Report'

Cover of the '2022 Net Zero Special Report'. Photo by SK Innovation

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] SK Innovation disclosed its "2022 Net Zero Special Report," which contains specific carbon reduction targets and a commitment to contributing to global carbon reduction, on its website on the 31st. The core of this special report is the "Beyond Net Zero" strategy.

An SK Innovation official explained, "Last year, we announced plans to achieve net zero for Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gases through Korea's first net zero special report," adding, "This report, published under the title 'One Step Closer to Net Zero,' comprehensively reflects the greenhouse gas reduction achievements over the past two years and our determination to pursue even higher net zero goals." Scope refers to the classification system of greenhouse gas emission sources that allows companies to comprehensively measure their carbon emissions.

The "Beyond Net Zero" strategy aims not only to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from SK Innovation's own operations but also to expand its contribution to global carbon reduction. Through the expansion of various eco-friendly and low-carbon businesses such as ▲eco-friendly bio aviation fuel ▲electric vehicle batteries ▲plastic recycling ▲battery metal recovery and reuse, SK Innovation plans to contribute to reducing approximately 100 million tons of carbon by 2050. From 2040 onwards, the total positive effect combining SK Innovation's Scope 1, 2, and 3 reduction efforts and its global carbon reduction contributions is expected to exceed the remaining greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gases within the SK Innovation group value chain, precisely measuring the global carbon reduction contribution effect and setting comprehensive goals is a pioneering effort by SK Innovation among domestic companies and is also a very leading initiative among global companies.

To this end, SK Innovation has established a "Net Zero Portfolio" strategy that reduces not only greenhouse gases emitted within business sites (Scope 1 and 2) through the "Carbon to Green" business model and portfolio innovation but also greenhouse gases (Scope 3) generated throughout all processes from raw material production and transportation to sales, consumption, and disposal.

The Net Zero Portfolio strategy aims to reduce the integrated Scope 3 "carbon intensity (Financial Intensity)" of the SK Innovation group by more than 90% by 2050 compared to the base year 2019, by increasing assets centered on the battery materials business and promoting Scope 3 reductions across all affiliated companies. Carbon intensity refers to the amount of Scope 3 emissions per unit of fixed assets.

This target is more ambitious than the 75% reduction goal for 2050 presented in last year's first net zero special report, and the reduction methodology has also been specified. Additionally, SK Innovation plans to separately measure and expand the "Global Carbon Reduction Contribution Effect (Avoided Emissions)" through the spread of eco-friendly products and services.

The global carbon reduction contribution effect refers to the relative carbon emission reduction effect achieved when a company supplies eco-friendly products and services to the market instead of existing products and services. For example, in the case of aviation fuel, using eco-friendly aviation fuel produced from bio raw materials such as used cooking oil (UCO) emits less carbon compared to aviation fuel refined from conventional crude oil.

Meanwhile, SK Innovation is systematically implementing Scope 1 and 2 reductions according to the plans established and announced last year, and as a result, it has achieved a reduction of approximately 1.5 million tons of greenhouse gases compared to 2019 emissions. This represents a reduction of more than 10% compared to 2019, reflecting SK Innovation's continuous and systematic reduction efforts.

SK Innovation's ESG Promotion Officer Youngsoo Kwon emphasized, "The 'Beyond Net Zero' strategy announced through this net zero special report reflects the demands of key stakeholders to set scientific goals and implement them systematically," adding, "We will continuously share SK Innovation's journey toward achieving net zero with external parties."

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