Woori Financial sets up ESG body to promote sustainable growth

Woori Financial Group headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Woori Financial Group

By Lee Min-hyung

Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung

Woori Financial Group will establish an environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) body under its board of directors as early as next month to show its willingness for sustainable growth.

The move represents the financial group's determination to carry out more efficient and swift decision making on ESG projects, Woori said Sunday.

The establishment of the committee will be completed upon receiving approvals from the board in March.

“We are going to fulfill our financial social responsibility by performing inclusive ESG policies for the country,” an official from the group said. “We will take a leap forward as one of the nation's leading ESG groups by making group-wide efforts in cooperation with the board of directors.”

Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung will discuss detailed strategies to enhance the group's ESG strategies with leaders of its key affiliates after launching the committee.

Late last year, the nation's top-tier financial holding firm pledged to go carbon-neutral by 2050, in a move to fight climate change and become a more environmentally-friendly firm. This was in line with the government's pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Under the drive, the financial group also decided to stop offering financial support or bond investments to non-environmentally-friendly projects _ such as the construction of coal power plants.

The financial industry here is going all-out to embrace the ESG drive and join the global movement for sustainable growth. Woori has also pushed for a series of ESG projects, identifying them as essential steps for its sustainable growth.

In August last year, Woori Bank issued 300 billion won worth of ESG bonds to help support self-employed people and small firms hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Woori will aggressively push for ESG management by enabling it to become one of the group's key medium- to long-term growth strategies,” the Woori chairman said.