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ESG POLICY & STRATEGY
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ESG Policy & Strategy
Why UNEP's Redrawn 'Exceeding 1.5°C' Pathway Demands Corporate Climate Strategies Combine Mitigation and Adaptation
Based on UNEP's 2026 Emissions Gap Report, this analysis examines the implications of the overshoot, peak, and decline pathways on corporate assets, supply chains, and capital allocation, while exploring an integrated strategy for both mitigation and adaptation.
KBR 편집부 · 09/18/2026
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ESG Policy & Strategy
Why Safety Inspections End but Improvement Measures Remain
박소유 Editor · 09/16/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
Reducing Wasted Ingredient Costs in Purchase Orders Rather than ESG Reports
강지혜 Editor · 09/15/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
The EU Reduced ESG Regulations… Costs Companies Must Cut Now and Data They Must Keep to the End
이우리 선임기자 · 09/14/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
Global Warming Threshold Crossed Again: National Targets Set for 2035, Carbon Budget at 4 Years
이우리 선임기자 · 09/13/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
5 Things Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises Must Check Before Adopting AI Industrial Safety Technologies
At the 2026 Korea Safety Technology Awards, AI human-detection and fire/industrial safety response technologies were selected as major award winners. In the first half of 2026, the number of industrial accident fatalities in manufacturing increased to 92, with more than half of all fatalities occurring in workplaces with fewer than 50 employees. Even when AI safety equipment is introduced, it is difficult to expect practical safety management effects without responsible personnel and follow-up response procedures. Management of false positives and false negatives, integration with risk assessments, and data logging linked to the management's reporting system must be designed together. For small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, the adoption of AI industrial safety is less about purchasing equipment and more about how to integrate the technology with existing safety and health management systems.
이우리 선임기자 · 09/05/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
Environmental Permitting Pressure on Automotive and Secondary Battery Plants: Integrating Environmental Permits into a Single System
On August 23, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced plans to legislate amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rule of the Environmental Pollution Facilities Act, adding seven industries—including automotive and secondary batteries—to the integrated environmental permitting system. The integrated environmental permit combines up to 10 types of environmental permits and 73 documents scattered across seven laws into a single integrated environmental management plan, while setting customized emission standards for each business site. Implementation is scheduled for January 2028 for three food-related industries and January 2029 for automotive, secondary batteries, flat glass, and rubber products, with a four-year grace period granted to existing business sites. The amendments also include easing measures, such as extending the regular inspection cycle for exemplary business sites to up to five years and easing requirements for integrated environmental managers at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while strengthening the responsibilities of agency service providers as a trade-off. Currently in the legislative notice stage and not yet finalized, the schedule for establishing and supplementing industry-specific Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference documents is considered the biggest variable for the system's establishment.
이태민 책임기자 · 08/29/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
What Is Ongoing Emissions Responsibility? The New Net-Zero Standard of SBTi 2.0
The SBTi introduced the 'Ongoing Emissions Responsibility' (OER) framework in its Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0 released on June 11, 2026. OER consists of three stages: an optional recognition program, post-2035 removal requirements, and the neutralization of residual emissions at net-zero. The recognition program is divided into three tiers—Engaged, Advanced, and Leadership—with contribution budgets ranging from $20 to $80 per ton. Valued mitigation outcomes (VMOs) used for OER must be accounted for separately from inventories and target progress, and cannot be claimed as emission deductions. The standard takes effect on February 1, 2027, and requirements beyond 2035 are scheduled to be re-evaluated in version 3.0.
박소유 책임기자 · 08/21/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
Safety is Now Public: August 2026 Marks the Dawn of the Corporate 'Safety Report Card' Era
The Occupational Safety and Health Disclosure System takes effect on August 1, 2026, requiring companies with 500 or more regular employees and construction contractors with a project value of 120 billion won or more to publicly disclose their safety and health status annually. Although fatal accidents in the first half of 2026 hit a record low of 253, a clear polarization by accident type emerged, with falls decreasing while fires and explosions actually increased. Over four and a half years of Severe Accidents Punishment Act enforcement, court rulings have repeatedly pointed to a lack of risk identification and improvement procedures, as well as inadequate criteria for evaluating responsible personnel, while the suspended sentence rate reached 85.7%. Safety leadership manifests not through declarations, but through resource and time allocation and the fostering of psychological safety, while safety culture matures in stages, akin to the Hudson model or Bradley curve. With international standards such as the ISO 45001 revision and the ISSB human capital project also expanding safety into the realms of culture and well-being, businesses must transition from lagging to leading indicator management.
이태민 책임기자 · 08/13/2026
ESG Policy & Strategy
The US Pushes Aside ESG, Markets Demand Data — Sustainable Management After the ESG Backlash
In 2026, ESG is unfolding as a simultaneous progression of regulatory rollbacks at the US federal level and growing demands for sustainability data from global capital markets. While the US sees the repeal of SEC climate disclosure rules, ESG fund outflows, and companies avoiding the term 'ESG,' climate targets and sustainability investments have not completely disappeared. On the other hand, regional disclosure regulations such as ISSB standards, IAASB assurance standards, and rules in the EU and California are institutionalizing sustainability information into comparable and verifiable data. South Korea is also pushing to mandate sustainability disclosures starting with large KOSPI-listed companies from 2028 through KSSB standards and a Financial Services Commission roadmap. Ultimately, core competitiveness after the ESG backlash lies not in how well one talks about ESG, but in how reliably one can prove climate, supply chain, and governance data.
김민경 책임기자 · 06/27/2026
