Two of South Korea’s largest company emitters, manufacturing and providers conglomerate SK and steelmaker Posco, have been hit with a authorized grievance for utilizing a premium on clear electrical energy to falsely declare emissions reductions.
The grievance was filed with Korea’s Honest Commerce Fee and the Korea Environmental Business and Know-how Institute on Friday by Seoul-based local weather advocacy group Options For Our Local weather (SFOC).
SFOC mentioned the business giants have been greenwashing their decarbonisation efforts by double-counting the emissions reductions they’ve made by the “inexperienced premium” system, which is an extra price corporations pay state-owned utility Korea Electrical Energy Company (KEPCO) to acquire renewable power.
Clear electrical energy purchased by the green premium comes from massive energy corporations that are obliged underneath Korean regulation to generate or buy a sure share of renewable power. Korea Power Company, the nation’s power board, certifies the quantity of emissions decreased from renewables for the ability producers, which is then excluded from their emissions portfolio. Companies that declare emissions cuts primarily based on the green premium are subsequently double-counting the quantity of prevented local weather air pollution, argued SFOC.
As an example, semiconductor know-how firm SK Siltron claims to have decreased 7.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equal (tCO2e) by buying 168 gigawatt-hours of inexperienced premium in 2022, however these emissions reductions claims shouldn’t be claimed as a part of the corporate’s decarbonisation plans, SFOC mentioned.
Korea’s Ministry of Setting and Ministry of Commerce, Business and Power has outlawed corporations that buy a inexperienced premium from claiming emissions reductions, as a result of doing so would skew calculations for monitoring Korea’s progress in direction of assembly its nationwide 2050 internet zero goal, which was enshrined in regulation in 2021.
SK and Posco have but to answer the grievance.
SK, which owns 175 companies in power, life sciences, superior supplies, mobility, and semiconductors, has pledged to be internet zero by 2050 by investing in renewables and carbon seize, use and storage applied sciences. It goals to scale back carbon emissions by 200 million tonnes by 2030, which the corporate claims is equal to 1 per cent of world carbon discount targets.
Posco, one of many world’s largest metal corporations, has additionally dedicated to be internet zero by mid-century in step with Korea’s nationwide internet zero goal. It goals to cut back its emissions in phases: 10 per cent by 2030, 50 per cent by 2040, and internet zero by 2050. Its reported Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have fallen from of 78.5 million tCO2e in 2021 to 70.2 million tCO2e in 2022.
SFOC mentioned that an issue with the inexperienced premium is that there are “no clear hyperlinks” between the funds raised from the premium and the enlargement of renewable power, and there’s a lack of transparency over how Korea Power Company is utilizing the funds to slash emissions.
Some 87 per cent of the renewable power claims made by corporations which have signed as much as RE100, a bunch of firm’s dedicated to utilizing solely renewables, come through the inexperienced premium system in Korea.
Faulty emissions discount claims made by SK and Posco might have an effect on the reputations of multinational companies they provide semiconductors and metal to, which embody Apple and Tesla, SFOC mentioned.
“Whereas there are different choices underneath Ok-RE100, corresponding to direct Energy Buy Agreements (PPA), that contribute extra considerably to the power transition, inexperienced premium stays the most affordable and most handy alternative for a lot of RE100 corporations,” famous Geonyoung Kim, a lawyer at Options for Our Local weather. “The South Korean authorities should create insurance policies to incentivise and assist corporations to decide on renewables procurement choices with additionality.”
SK’s power arm SK E&S was taken to courtroom by SFOC in 2021 over an promoting marketing campaign that claimed the corporate produced “carbon-free” pure gasoline. It was the primary authorized motion taken towards an organization for greenwashing in Korea.
The newest grievance comes a 12 months after Korea turned the primary Asia jurisdiction to enact a regulation towards greenwashing, with companies to be fined as much as KRW3 million (US$2,300) for corporations that mislead the general public about their environmental affect.
Different jurisdictions in Asia have additionally began to place strain on companies over exaggerated inexperienced claims. Over the past 12 months, Singapore and Australia have banned ads for greenwashing for the primary time.
