■ The ESG Committee sets up the first action plan for carbon neutrality as part of the "Triple A" for ESG Vision announced last year
■ 2035 to be set as the first year of carbon-neutral growth by reducing 29% below BAU 2030
■ CEO Baek Jong-hoon declares, "Pursuing the ultimate carbon-neutral growth with the first step in carbon reduction activities"  

On the 23rd, Kumho Petrochemical (CEO Baek Jong-hoon) announced a concrete action plan for carbon neutrality and the start of its full-fledged activities as part of its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management activities announced last year.  

Since its announcement of the ESG Vision (Triple A: Act, Advance, and Accelerate), the ESG Committee (chaired by External Director Park Soon-ae), the think tank for Kumho Petrochemical's ESG management activities, has been developing climate change response strategies in conjunction with the workgroups of the ESG Management and Safety Environment departments with the help of external consultants. The committee summarized Kumho Petrochemical’s mid- to long-term carbon-neutral growth plan into five core strategies.  

The five strategies are: (1) the acceleration of downsizing the entire establishments based on clean energy conversion, (2) conversion to eco-friendly products, (3) conversion to eco-friendly bio-based raw materials, (4) expansion of recycling, and (5) building a communication foundation through digital conversion of carbon asset management. Based on these five strategies, Kumho Petrochemical plans to cut emissions by 29% below the business-as-usual (BAU) level and 23% below the nationally determined contribution (NDC) by 2030 to ultimately achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2050, with 2035 as the first year of growth when the reduction outpaces the increase. 

Aligned with the five strategies, the company begins mitigation activities from the areas directly or indirectly related to its business. For example, the company will apply Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) and convert fuels for the power generation business, expand the ratio of eco-friendly raw materials (such as bio silica-based synthetic rubber) for its chemical business, and recover materials from wastes through thermal decomposition such as Recycled Styrene Monomer (RSM). In addition, as part of the carbon-neutral project, it will build an advanced system to enable instant communication and cooperation with stakeholders by digitizing carbon asset management activities at each stage of carbon generation through live cycle assessment (LCA).  

According to Kumho Petrochemical’s blueprint, the annual emission reduction will outpace the increase from 2035, the first year of carbon-neutral growth, as carbon emissions will gradually decrease. As a result, the total amount of carbon emissions, which has been increasing every year as the company grows, finally will turn into a downward trend. The company’s first goal to attain the ultimate carbon-neutral growth by 2050 entails the ceaseless pursuit of carbon-neutral growth through developing innovative reduction technology and eco-friendly products and collaboration with various stakeholders.  

Baek Jong-hoon, CEO of Kumho Petrochemical, expressed his commitment saying, “We have taken the first step in concrete carbon reduction activities. Based on our five strategies, all of us at Kumho will work together for our ultimate carbon-neutral growth.”
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