"ESG's Top Concern Issues Are 'Eco-friendliness' and 'Carbon Neutrality'"

Federation of Korean Industries Analyzes ESG Keyword Trend Changes and Future Prospects
"Discussion on Policy Support Needed"

Number of articles exposed when searching for the ESG keyword. [Provided by the Federation of Korean Industries]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Ye-ju] As discussions on carbon neutrality, climate change response, and ESG management and support for partner companies accelerate, there is a growing call for active policy support discussions on these matters.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) announced this on the 6th by releasing the 'Analysis of ESG Keyword Trend Changes and Future Prospects.' The report was prepared through big data analysis of news on ESG issues over 11 quarters from Q1 2020 to Q3 2022.

Interest in ESG surged explosively in 2021 but has shown some slowdown in 2022. Compared to Q4 last year, ESG interest based on search articles in Q1 this year decreased by about 13.3%. This is interpreted as a temporary lull in interest in ESG this year due to rising raw material prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and global tightening policies in countries like the United States.

The top ESG interest issues were 'eco-friendly,' 'carbon neutrality,' and 'social value.' In the E (environment) category, 'eco-friendly' and 'carbon neutrality' drew attention; in S (social), 'social value,' 'social responsibility,' and 'partner companies (affiliates)' were prominent; and in G (governance), 'ESG committee' and 'board of directors' attracted interest.

'Large corporations' and 'small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)' also appeared as key ESG keywords. Large corporations that first introduced ESG management appeared as trend keywords first, followed by ESG management of SMEs in partnership and supply chain relationships emerging as major issues.

The FKI pointed out that corporate and government responses and support policies are necessary for future major ESG issues.

An FKI official said, "As abnormal climate phenomena intensify, climate change response and carbon neutrality will continue to be major keywords in the E (environment) sector," adding, "In particular, discussions across various sectors are needed regarding the feasibility of achieving the NDC 2030 targets and adjustments to reduction amounts."

He continued, "In the S (social) sector, issues of support for partner companies and SMEs are expected to become increasingly important in terms of supply chain ESG management," adding, "Government support discussions on this are also necessary."

Meanwhile, this survey conducted text mining of news articles related to ESG, extracting 27 ESG-related concepts after excluding company names, personal names, and duplicate words, and analyzed the number of exposed articles. The number of exposed articles for sub-concepts was limited to articles that included both ESG and the respective concept.

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