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SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, eighth from left, and SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun, sixth from left, declare SK Innovation's new vision of "all-time net zero" with participants of an event to celebrate the oil refiner's 60th anniversary at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of SK Innovation |
Korea's oldest refiner declares 'all-time net zero' in celebration of 60th anniversary
By Park Jae-hyuk
SK Innovation seeks to remove greenhouse gases equivalent to the amount it has produced since its establishment in 1962, by the time the oil refiner marks its 100th anniversary in 2062, the company said at Thursday's event to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
"The global energy market has changed rapidly as it transitions to eco-friendly and sustainable energy sources that help to satisfy the needs of future generations," SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said during the event held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry headquarters in Seoul.
Introducing SK Innovation's low-carbon energy supply and various other net zero efforts, the chairman described the oil refiner's future as a global green energy company leading the eco-friendly energy industry.
"New changes toward net zero have begun once again at SK Innovation," he said.
SK Innovation's new goal was upgraded from its previous goal of "2050 net zero" which aims to reduce net carbon emissions to nearly zero by 2050 against the 2019 baseline.
To fulfill the ambitious new plan, SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun declared the new vision of "all-time net zero," along with two new employees who joined the company in July.
"All-time net zero is our promise to take responsibility for the previous generation's conduct and hand over a sustainable world to future generations," said the CEO, who joined the company in 1987, when it was state-owned and called the Korea Oil Corp.
The new employees also vowed to contribute to the goal of all-time net zero.
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SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, and SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun look around an exhibition on SK Innovation's 60 years of history at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
The event was attended by SK Group's former and incumbent top executives, including SK Group Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, SK SUPEX Council Chairman Cho Dae-sik, SK Inc. CEO Jang Dong-hyun and SK Innovation Board Chairman Kim Jong-hoon, as well as former vice chairmen Kim Hang-duk, Hwang Doo-yul, Shin Heon-cheol and Chung Chul-khil.
SK Innovation's various other stakeholders, such as the union leader and the heads of its subcontractors and social ventures, also participated in the event to celebrate the oil refiner's growth over the past six decades.
In addition, SK Innovation played the company's previous TV commercials at the venue and displayed the company's historic documents, notes of mechanics and uniforms of workers at its Ulsan factory and their employee cards, to help the participants reflect on the past.