SK Bioscience, First Domestic Pharmaceutical Bio Company to Publish 'TCFD Report'

Containing Climate Change Response Management Strategies and Action Plans

Cover of SK Bioscience TCFD Report.
Photo by SK Bioscience

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwanju] For the first time in the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry, a report containing corporate management strategies and practical measures to respond to climate change has been published.

SK Bioscience announced on the 6th that it has published its first "Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report," which includes business sustainability and response strategies related to climate change. This is the second report published to strengthen sustainable and socially responsible management, following the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) report released in June.

TCFD is an international consultative body established in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) at the request of the Group of Twenty (G20). It recommends that companies identify risks and opportunities related to climate change, establish strategies, and disclose the expected financial impacts in a quantified report. The published TCFD reports serve as important indicators to help transparent and comprehensive decision-making by internal and external stakeholders, including investors.

In its first self-published TCFD report, SK Bioscience specified governance, strategy, risk management, indicators, and reduction targets for responding to climate change. It also analyzed greenhouse gas reduction strategies throughout the entire business process and the resulting financial impacts.

The report identified major critical risk factors due to climate change as ▲strengthened policy-driven carbon pricing and increased price burdens ▲the need to respond to trends of vaccine self-sufficiency and biosecurity enhancement after the pandemic ▲increased demands from stakeholders for climate change response and rising social costs ▲the spread and transmission of vector-borne infectious diseases caused by habitat changes of insects and rodents due to abnormal climate phenomena.

Key opportunity factors related to climate change were selected as ▲increased sustainability of global joint projects due to mandatory disclosure of response status ▲strengthening the position of vaccine businesses through leading responses ▲contributing to the prevention of zoonotic disease spread through active climate change response and environmental protection.

From a global health issue perspective, SK Bioscience established the "2024 RE100, 2031 Net Zero" strategy to respond to climate change and reduce the Earth's average temperature. Through RE100, which aims to achieve 100% renewable energy conversion by 2024, the company plans to proactively reduce carbon emissions and ultimately achieve "Net Zero" carbon emissions by 2031 through additional efforts such as converting fuels used in factories to eco-friendly energy.

To implement this, SK Bioscience established a climate change response governance centered on the board of directors and set up an ESG committee to oversee mid- to long-term climate change management strategies and operations. Additionally, to facilitate organic collaboration among organizations, a working-level consultative body was formed under the ESG committee to establish an integrated enterprise-wide risk management system for climate change. SK Bioscience plans to gradually disclose related information transparently in the future to report on the implementation results according to TCFD recommendations.

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