70% of Companies Say "Carbon Neutrality Is an Opportunity"... Corporate Perception Changed in One Year

Technical Limitations and Reduction Measures Persist
Small and Medium Enterprises Struggle to Secure Investment Funds

In the past year, the number of companies recognizing carbon neutrality as an opportunity rather than a crisis has significantly increased.

According to a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry targeting domestic high greenhouse gas emitting companies (400 respondents out of 1,000 companies subject to the Emissions Trading Scheme and Target Management System), 68.8% of the responding companies evaluated that pursuing carbon neutrality would have a positive impact on corporate competitiveness. Last year, only 34.8% had a positive evaluation, nearly doubling in one year.

However, 31.2% of companies still perceive it negatively, citing a "risk of weakened competitiveness" (23.5%) or "risk to industry survival" (7.7%).

Regarding the government's carbon neutrality policies, overall positive evaluations were prevalent. 81.5% of the responding companies evaluated the policies positively, while only 18.5% evaluated them negatively.

A representative from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry explained, "The recent government initiatives to reduce investment uncertainty for companies, such as expanding support for greenhouse gas reduction facility investments, introducing the Carbon Contract for Difference (CCfD) system, and the early establishment of the 4th Emissions Trading Scheme Basic Plan (2026?2030), are factors contributing to the positive evaluations."

In particular, 90.3% of the responding companies positively evaluated the government's plan to introduce the Carbon Contract for Difference (CCfD) system from 2023, a system where companies adopt new technologies through contracts with the government and receive compensation at a fixed carbon price for a certain period.

Reduction Measures and Technical Limitations Persist... Small and Medium Enterprises Struggle with Investment Funding

In this survey, 66.0% of the responding companies stated that they have plans to invest in carbon reduction facilities to implement carbon neutrality. Conversely, 34.0% reported no investment plans. Among investment areas, "energy efficiency improvement" was the most common at 68.2%, followed by "use of renewable energy" (24.2%), "waste heat recovery" (18.6%), "fuel switching" (11.7%), "process gas reduction" (8.3%), "resource circulation" (7.6%), and "carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)" (2.7%).

Companies without investment plans cited "difficulty in securing investment funds" (42.5%) as the most common reason, followed by "lack of reduction measures and technology" (33.1%), "no need for investment due to emission reductions" (11.9%), and "uncertainty of investment incentives such as emission allowance prices" (8.8%).

By company size, large corporations most frequently cited "lack of reduction measures and technology" (34.8%), while small and medium enterprises most frequently cited "difficulty in securing investment funds" (45.3%).

Domestic large corporation A explained, "Most of the known reduction technologies have already been applied on-site, so there are limits to further reductions," adding, "It is urgent to develop and demonstrate new reduction technologies such as high-efficiency facilities, improved carbon capture efficiency, and hydrogen production technology."

Small enterprise B expressed, "We plan to participate in the government's ongoing support projects for reduction facilities, but the high self-contribution rate and exclusion of costs such as demolition of existing facilities, building construction, and land purchase from support make it difficult to secure investment funds."

Companies identify government priorities for carbon neutrality as ▲expansion of investment fund support ▲system improvement ▲support for reduction technology

Companies ranked urgent government policy tasks for carbon neutrality as "expansion of investment fund support" (33.0%), "system improvement" (24.0%), "development and dissemination of reduction technology" (17.9%), "expansion of investment incentives" (12.8%), and "fostering climate tech companies" (9.0%). <"Support for affected businesses and workers" 3.1%, "Others" 0.2%>

Professor Lee Ji-woong of Pukyong National University stated, "Since most carbon neutrality innovative technologies are not yet commercialized, steady investment from a long-term perspective is important," and added, "The government needs to simultaneously induce technology development in companies through financial support and foster innovative technology companies such as climate tech startups."

Meanwhile, regarding support requests in preparation for the European Union's (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), responding companies most frequently cited "explanation of the system and provision of information" (30.1%). This was followed by "support for establishing response strategies" (20.6%), "measures to minimize burdens such as mutual certification of emissions" (17.8%), "operation of guidance desks for eligibility confirmation" (11.9%), "administrative response support" (9.3%), and "support for emission calculation" (9.0%). Only 1.3% supported "raising regulations to the EU level."

Cho Young-jun, Director of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Sustainability Management Institute, said, "The budget for industrial sector carbon neutrality technology development was drastically reduced from the initially planned 6.7 trillion won to 930 billion won in the preliminary feasibility study," adding, "As domestic companies are trying to take on challenges by viewing carbon neutrality as an opportunity, the government should create an environment where companies can actively invest through bold financial support and expanded incentives. Institutional improvements such as increasing the offset emission credit usage limit to 10% to enable active reduction overseas are also necessary."

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