KEF - Korea Employers' Federation

05/16/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/15/2024 18:27

KEF held First ‘2024 ESG Management Committee’ Meeting

On May 9th, the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) held its 1st '2024 ESG Management Committee' meeting at Seoul Press Center. Chaired by KEF Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, the committee is the CEO-level ESG consultative body in business community, comprising 18 business leaders from major enterprises in Korea.

Chairman Sohn said that "the risk of trade barriers based on ESG regulations are increasing with the foundation of economic bloc", stressing the need for public-private partnerships to address such challenge.

The committee members shared the challenges caused by ESG regulations and called for more inter-governmental consultation with EU member countries, as well as tangible support for SMEs and regulatory reforms to enhance export competitiveness.

In the meeting, Kim Jae-hoon, director of Future Vision and Strategy at Ministry of Economy and Finance(MOEF) said that "the MOEF will assess the current ESG management practice of major Korean companies in response of global ESG regulation movement, and come up with measures to enhance the ESG competitiveness of Korean companies with relevant ministries."

"Also, a realistic set of ESG disclosure standards should be developed, considering that the manufacturing sector takes up a large proportion of the supply chain, and SMEs and small business owners have insufficient capacity for reporting," said the KEF Vice Chairman Lee Dong-geun.