SK Securities, first Korean financial company to acquire right to trade carbon emissions

The headquarters of SK Securities, located on Yeouido, Seoul / Courtesy of SK Securities

By Anna J. Park

SK Securities announced that it acquired Korean Offset Credits (KOC), the official right to trade carbon emissions, becoming the first financial company to do so in Korea. The offset credit is a right to carbon emissions that can be traded on the carbon market.

According to SK Securities on Friday, the firm's acquisition of the carbon emissions rights aims to strengthen the company's ESG management criteria, which the brokerage firm has been focused on improving during the past few years.

“Through the firm's efforts to develop and expand so-called green financial businesses, SK Securities plans to lay the groundwork for the firm's sustainable growth, while it strengthens close communication among customers, shareholders, employees and society at large,” an official from SK Securities said.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) validates and allows its member countries to set quotas on the carbon emissions of local businesses through their national registries.

As an early adopter of ESG principles in its management, the financial company established a new renewable energy department back in 2017, followed by the launching of an ESG department within the firm to enhance expertise on ESG-themed businesses and investments.

SK Securities also became the first Korean financial company to become a member institute of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), the operational arm of the UNFCCC, in 2020 to promote low-carbon businesses and technologies.