2021.11.02
Korean Air receives grade A for ESG from KCGS
By Yim Hyun-su, The Korea Herald - Korean Air has received an “integrated A grade” for its ESG efforts from the nonprofit ESG rating agency Korea Corporate Governance Service. The national flag carrier achieved the marks for the second year running, a recent ESG rating report by KCGS revealed.
When
broken down by category, the airline received an A for corporate governance, an
improvement from last year. The higher score was thanks to the separation of
the CEO and the board of directors, appointment of a woman outside director and
creation of an ESG committee consisting exclusively of outside directors. In
addition to governance, the airline’s social and environmental efforts also
received an integrated grade of A.
Earlier
this year, Korean Air partnered with leading petroleum and refinery company
Hyundai Oilbank to adopt Sustainable Aviation Fuel. The cooperation marks the
airline’s latest environmental efforts.
Korean
Air said at the time of the announcement that it hopes to counter climate
change caused by the aviation industry through the use of SAF and help
commercialize it. SAF, which is made up of grains, plants, algae and animal
fats, can reduce a flight’s carbon emissions by up to 80 percent.
In
September, it teamed up with SK Energy to adopt carbon-neutral jet fuel and
help fight climate change. Under the partnership, the airline announced it
would purchase a month’s worth of carbon-neutral jet fuel for domestic flights
departing from Jeju and Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
In
July, it also issued ESG bonds to raise funds for its environmentally and
socially responsible investments including plans to introduce Boeing 787-10s as
early as next year. This new aircraft has 25 percent higher fuel efficiency per
seat and emits 25 percent less carbon emissions than similar aircraft.
The
airline also actively took part in humanitarian transport missions including
shipping COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies as part of its social corporate
responsibility.
Source: http://news.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20211031000158&md=20211101003010_BL