SK Innovation unveils plans for Scope 3 carbon emission reduction

SK Innovation Co. published its 2022 Net Zero Special Report on the company website on Wednesday, detailing its plan of action for Scope 3 carbon emission reduction.

This year’s theme is Beyond Net Zero.

“The company was the first to publish a special report on net zero in South Korea last year,” an SK Innovation employee told The Korea Economic Daily. 

The employee added the latest report describes the South Korean conglomerate’s progress in carbon emission reduction over the past two years and reflects a commitment to achieving net zero within the promised timeline. 

The main categories under Scope 3 include expanding the biofuel business, manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles and recycling plastic. 

Back in June, SK Innovation announced it will inject $30 million into Brooklyn-based Amogy Inc., an ammonia (NH3)-based, emission-free power solutions developer.

The goal is to help in reducing more than 100 million tons of carbon emissions by 2050, by yielding tangible results by a year before the deadline. 

SK Innovation claims it is the first South Korean company to create a detailed and comprehensive plan within the company’s value chain to slash greenhouse gas emissions. 

The intermediate holding company of SK Group is following the Carbon to Green business model for its net zero portfolio strategy – for not only Scope 1 and 2, which target the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at its production sites but for Scope 3, which looks to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the overall raw materials treatment, logistics and disposal process. 

In this year’s report, SK Innovation also unveiled that it plans to reduce Scope 3 emissions by more than 90% by 2050 as compared to 2019. 

That goal is more ambitious than the 75% reduction target stated in last year's report. 

London-based consultancy Environmental Resources Management (ERM) is working with SK Innovation in this regard.

“Climate change is fundamentally changing the way business is done,” Mark Errington, Regional Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific ERM said. “From that perspective, the 2022 Net Zero Special Report released by SK innovation is a meaningful step towards addressing the strategically important global issue of climate change.”

The full English language report is set to appear on the SK Innovation website on Thursday, Korea Standard Time. 

Write to Jee Abbey Lee at jal@hankyung.com