It's time for Samsung Electronics to take on greater role

By Jang Daul

The global tech giant Samsung Electronics remained the No. 1 company in South Korea as well as the leader in the global smartphone market in 2020. Being such a leading company comes with greater responsibilities to society and around the world.

One of the key responsibilities of a global business like Samsung Electronics is to address climate change, which is an existential threat to humanity.

The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change released another alarming report recently, analyzing the latest 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of the 191 parties to the Paris Agreement as submitted up by July 30.

It points out that without urgently redoubling our climate mitigation efforts, we are not going to keep the global temperature increase from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius as per the Paris Agreement, but will face a temperature rise of about 2.7 degrees Celsius. If that happens, it will be a disaster for the global economy and humanity.

In this era of a global climate crisis, many of the world's most influential companies are proactively leading various transitions to decarbonize the way they do business, while either maintaining or even improving their global market competitiveness.

The best-known global initiative is RE100. It is an initiative that brings key global businesses together to drive the transition to 100 percent renewable electricity sources for themselves as well as their suppliers.

More than 300 global corporations have already joined the initiative and according to the RE100's 2020 annual report, three quarters of the RE100 members plan to reach 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030.

There were no Korean RE100 members until November last year. Since last December, a number of Korean corporations, including SK hynix and LG Energy Solution, have joined the initiative.

However, the No. 1 Asian company in terms of profit in 2020, Samsung Electronics, has not yet committed to both carbon neutrality by 2050 and 100 percent renewable energy resources by 2030.

These two pledges have become global and regional standards and Samsung Electronics is falling behind in regional and global corporate climate leadership.

In fact, Samsung Electronics committed in June 2018 to achieve 100 percent renewable electricity by 2020 only in the U.S., Europe and China.

According to a Greenpeace report titled "Samsung Electronics Roadmap to 100% Renewable Energy," Samsung did keep that promise. And efforts need to be recognized.

However, such a "partial" commitment and achievement increased the share of renewable energy in Samsung's overall energy mix up to only 17.6 percent. It's not a high standard considering the fact that there are more than 50 companies, including Apple, that have already achieved 100 percent renewable energy in all of their operations.

Samsung needs to commit to procure 100 percent of its electricity from renewables in all locations before 2030, including Korea and Vietnam, where more than 80 percent of Samsung's total energy is consumed.

The company is the largest electricity consumer in Korea. Therefore, it needs to be an important part of any plan to achieve an energy transition in the Korean power generation sector from fossil fuels to renewables.

It alone consumed almost one fifth of the total electricity used by 21 million households in South Korea. What Samsung does and how much effort it puts into procuring as much renewable electricity as possible have a huge influence on the Korean power market and society.

Samsung Electronics, whose emissions are equivalent to 12 million tons of carbon dioxide, was the third-largest private greenhouse gas emitter in the country in 2020 after POSCO and Hyundai Steel, excluding the five state-run power producers.

Based on its scale of business and impact on the overall economies of Korea and Vietnam, Samsung Electronics is able to lead proactive advocacy for improved access to and investment in renewable energy capacity in the two countries.

For example, in Japan there is a coalition of more than 100 companies called the Japan Climate Leaders' Partnership (JCLP). It aims to create a zero-carbon society built on the idea that decarbonization is essential to economic development.

The JCLP, including key companies Apple, Amazon Japan, Google Japan and Fujitsu called on the government there to set an ambitious goal of 50 percent renewable power by 2030 to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.

Samsung Electronics also needs to show similar leadership in South Korea and also in Asia. Officially committing to 100 percent renewable electricity with a roadmap before 2030 in all of its operations, followed by leading a private coalition to demand more aggressive renewable energy policies by the government will be the ideal leadership path for Samsung Electronics.

In this way, Samsung Electronics meets its role and responsibilities as the No. 1 company nationally, and as one of the top-tier companies regionally and globally. As clearly written in its 2021 Sustainability Report, as a "sustainable, centennial company," it's time for Samsung Electronics "to grow together with society to ensure we create a lasting legacy for future generations to come."

Jang Daul (daul.jang@greenpeace.org) is a government relations and advocacy specialist at Greenpeace East Asia Seoul Office.