SK Chemicals, the Only Company in the Industry to Receive 'ESG Evaluation' A+ for Two Consecutive Years

"Advanced Environmental Management and Transparent Information Disclosure"

SK Chemicals received the highest ESG rating for two consecutive years.

SK Chemicals announced on the 3rd that it obtained an integrated A+ rating in the 2023 ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) evaluation conducted by the Korea Corporate Governance Service (KCGS).

This is the second time, following the first A+ rating received in the 2022 KCGS evaluation. Only five companies have received an A+ rating for two consecutive years in the KCGS evaluation, and among them, SK Chemicals is the only company in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and bio sectors.

KCGS assigns ratings by category including environment, society, and governance for general listed companies, as well as an integrated ESG rating. The ratings are classified into seven levels from S to D, based on absolute evaluation criteria, and to date, no company has achieved the highest S rating.

KCGS evaluated 791 companies listed on the Korea Stock Exchange this year. Only 19 companies, representing the top 2.4%, received the integrated A+ rating.

SK Chemicals Headquarters Eco Lab, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province
[Photo by SK Chemicals]

In this year's evaluation, SK Chemicals received an A+ in environment, A+ in society, and A in governance. Although the detailed category ratings are the same as last year, the company explained that scores have improved evenly across all areas.

SK Chemicals analyzed that continuous advancement in environmental management levels, human rights due diligence initiatives, and enhanced accessibility and transparency of ESG information through website disclosures positively contributed to the improved evaluation scores.

Kim Ki-dong, Head of Management Support Division at SK Chemicals, stated, “This ESG evaluation is the result of SK Chemicals’ long-term efforts. We will further dedicate ourselves to ESG management based on reasonable board-centered decision-making, along with efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and realize social value.”

SK Chemicals publishes an annual sustainability management report along with a TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) report outlining response strategies for various climate change scenarios. Earlier this year, it received an 'A rating' in the MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) ESG evaluation for last year, ranking in the top 13% globally.

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