This file photo shows the buildings of South Korea’s major companies in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Among ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives, which have recently emerged as a central theme for the business community, the environment, particularly the response to climate change and carbon emissions, is often given top priority, a Seoul-based business lobby group said Thursday.
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) conducted a survey with the heads of the research centers at 15 domestic securities firms, 60 percent of whom picked the environment as the most important initiative among ESG initiatives, followed by social issues at 26.7 percent and governance at 13.3 percent.
In detail, 26.7 percent of the respondents said that what matters most is the response to climate change and carbon emissions.
The FKI suggested that the survey results reflect the popularity of the global eco-friendly trend since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to a question asking what industry would be hit hardest in terms of the attraction of investment and exports due to the expansion of the ESG trend, 28.9 percent picked petroleum products, followed by petrochemicals at 26.7 percent and steel at 26.7 percent.
The semiconductor industry was expected to have the brightest future at 28.9 percent, followed by secondary batteries at 26.7 percent, automobiles at 11.1 percent and biomedicine at 11.1 percent.
The largest share of the respondents picked telecom-to-chemicals conglomerate SK Group as an ESG leader among domestic companies, followed by LG Chem Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. and KB Financial Group Inc.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
