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Morning features and interviews. A morning story over a cup.
Now that we have entered the latter half of 2025, at this point when the earnings reports of major companies are wrapping up, there is a report that must be examined as importantly as the earnings — the "sustainability management report," which checks a company's ESG moves. Because a sustainability management report lets one confirm a company's goals, moves, and outlook for ESG management, it plays the role of an important evaluation indicator, all the more as corporate environmental and social responsibility comes to the fore. Today, we review the "2024 Amorepacific Holdings Sustainability Report" of "Amorepacific," the leading player in Korea's beauty industry.2030 A MORE Beautiful Promise[Cover of the 2024 Amorepacific Holdings Sustainability Report © Amorepacific]The influence of K-beauty is formidable. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korea's cosmetics exports in the first half amounted to 5.5 billion dollars (about 7.6026 trillion won), a record high. Actively entering not only the traditional export market of China but also the Middle East and South America, it proved that K-beauty's achievements are not a temporary phenomenon appearing only in a particular region. At the center of such K-beauty, how is Amorepacific (hereafter "Amore"), active under the calling of "making people beautiful, making the world beautiful," striving to make the world beautiful?Amore is executing a strategy of fulfilling five promises based on the two axes of "walking together with customers and society" and "coexistence with great nature." Specifically, to contribute to realizing customers' sustainable lifestyles, it reduces the Carbon Footprint of all new products through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and actively uses renewable energy. It reduces the environmental impact of cosmetics packaging by improving the materials of plastic packaging, and to minimize the environmental impact of the palm-oil cultivation process — palm oil being used as a raw material across beauty products — it is also making the effort to fully use palm oil certified by the "Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)." Beyond this, spreading the values of diversity and inclusion, Amore pursues sustainability toward the environment and society as a whole.Sustainability in the Cosmetics Development and Manufacturing ProcessThe product Life Cycle Assessment that Amore established comprehensively analyzes the environmental impacts arising throughout a product's entire process — raw-material extraction, production, distribution, use, and disposal. This assessment consists of 16 categories containing factors that can affect the environment and humans, such as fossil fuels, water use, acidification, toxic components, and fine-dust formation. Therefore, the Life Cycle Assessment can be used as an objective indicator to refer to when developing new products, as a standard by which consumers purchase products, and through this it can also draw out positive change across the industry.[Dongbuk-Bukchon Wind Farm © Renewable Energy Guide]In addition, in 2024, Amore achieved RE100 by converting 100% of the electricity used at its four major production sites and logistics centers nationwide to renewable energy. Amore sought the renewable-energy transition by directly building solar-power systems on idle land at its sites and logistics centers, and mobilizing various methods such as direct and third-party Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPA), the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC), and green tariff plans. Among these, the VPPA is a power-purchase-agreement format that Amore concluded for the first time in Korea. With this, Amore became a company that applied the maximum methodologies for securing renewable energy available in Korea.The Company's Efforts for Value ConsumptionAmore conducts a Materiality Assessment to identify, among the ESG matters related to its business, those that must be dealt with first. The materiality matter ranked first in the 2024 report is the environmental impact of packaging. This is based on the judgment that, through packaging improvement, it can reduce carbon emissions and improve the recycling rate, giving a real positive impact to the environment. Considering that most cosmetics use plastic packaging, building a plastic-circulation model based on the 4R strategy — reducing plastic packaging use (Reduce), raising recyclability (Recycle), creating an environment for reuse (Reuse), and directly recovering containers (Return) — will hold great meaning.In fact, Amore reduced plastic use by 1,696 tons over the single year of 2024 through the expanded application of recycled plastic and the lightening of packaging. It also succeeded in cutting about 4.2 tons of plastic use by improving cap designs and removing unnecessary spatula specifications. Amore plans to reduce plastic use by continuously applying such improvements.[Cosmetics that adopted refill capsules © Amorepacific]There are also cases of making recycling easy by not mixing materials other than plastic into cosmetics packaging. It improved product specifications so that containers could be recycled without a complex process — by removing the steel spring inside a pump, or replacing the cap material from steel with the same plastic material as the container. Alternatively, by selling refill containers separately and encouraging repeated use of the case, it reduced plastic use by 81% compared with buying a new product, and by directly intervening in resource circulation through an empty-bottle collection campaign, it collected a cumulative 2,721 tons of empty bottles.Such a resource-circulation model holds significance in that it enables value consumption — that simply buying Amore's products adds to ESG. What Amore protects is, beyond simply the Earth and the environment, the sustainability of K-beauty, which has become a culture in itself. If you are curious what the beautiful world Amore envisions looks like, how about confirming it through the sustainability report? by Editor L [Reference Article] Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
By Kim Won-sang (Media Communications, Solutions for Our Climate) · August 4, 2025This year, for the first time, I took part in the Fuji Rock Festival held in Japan. The festival, first held next to Mt. Fuji in 1997, is now — after relocating — held at the Naeba Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture, about 200 kilometers northwest of Tokyo. It was a space of drums and guitars echoing through the forest, a wave of people listening to music while treading the earth, and clear, transparent valley water brimming to wash away the heat. That atmosphere, in which freedom and solidarity mingled among people of all ages and various nationalities and races, was full of scenes hard to forget for a while.But at the tail end of that romance, a question came to mind."Is there really no price for all this freedom and enjoyment?"[Fuji Rock Festival © Kim Won-sang]I do work for climate response at a climate-change NGO. It is the work of drawing out systems and policies for climate-change mitigation to lower greenhouse gases nationally. Naturally, I come to examine the Carbon Footprint I myself induce.The car ride to and from home and the airport, the round-trip flight from Incheon to Tokyo, the round-trip Shinkansen from Tokyo to Niigata Prefecture, the round-trip bus shuttle to the resort, plus food and drink, trash, souvenirs, and lodging. The carbon footprint generated simply by taking part in the rock festival roughly exceeded 350 kg. It was, in effect, spewing out in a few days the carbon that 20 forest trees would have to absorb all year, and consuming 20% of my annual carbon budget in a few days. To think that the pursuit of happiness and keeping the Earth sustainable are in conflict.To settle it simply with "just don't go" — the power of comfort and solidarity that music gives to many people's lives is too great. But it is also hard to just enjoy it while turning away. In the end, I arrived at the thought that the answer lies in changing the "way of participating."[Fuji Rock Festival © Kim Won-sang]What was somewhat comforting was that the Fuji Rock Festival aims to be an "environmental festival" more than any other event. This is because the Fuji Rock Festival carries a history that cannot help but be sensitive to the environment, having experienced the effects of climate change. The first event, held near Mt. Fuji in 1997, was disrupted by an extreme typhoon, and as participants suffered hypothermia, it was canceled after just two days. The following year it was held again on the Tokyo coast, but the scorching heat caused great concern, and it eventually settled in its current home at the foot of the mountains in Niigata Prefecture. This is why the Fuji Rock Festival holds the environmental slogan "efforts for coexistence with nature."At the place where the Fuji Rock Festival is held, decking is laid to protect the forest paths and minimize humans' impact on the forest's biodiversity, and staff are stationed at all times to thoroughly carry out waste separation. Plastic bags made from inedible rice are distributed so participants can collect their trash, paper cups are collected and made into toilet paper for the following year, oil from fryers is reused as biofuel, and some energy is sourced from solar power. Booths that raise awareness of environmental conservation and sustainability, and stalls selling upcycled and eco-friendly products, are located here and there. In one corner, an NGO Village was set up, providing a platform for participants to discuss and communicate centered on climate and the environment. Most impressive of all is that a culture and atmosphere of "leave no trace" is created across the entire festival. It was a festival that shared its resonance not by setting up a stage against the backdrop of the forest but by becoming one with the forest.[Fuji Rock Festival © Kim Won-sang]Fortunately, such a refreshing movement is spreading across the performing-arts world as a whole."Coldplay" abruptly halted its concert tour in 2019. They judged that the enormous carbon emissions from their own musical activities were not sustainable. Afterward, over two years, they collaborated with a team of experts to prepare principles and methodologies and design a sustainable tour. They even secured assessment and verification systems. They declared they would reduce carbon emissions to less than half compared with the previous tour, and resumed their world tour in 2022, publishing on their website their performance methodology and promises regarding water, food, goods, trash, and more. "Massive Attack" also publicly declined to appear at Coachella, citing environmental burden. "Lukas Graham" completed a performance using only wind power and batteries. The UK comprehensive-arts festival "Glastonbury" began to operate entirely on renewable energy, and Chicago's music festival "Lollapalooza" achieved a 67% reduction in fuel use and greenhouse-gas emissions. The music world is now creating a new rhythm containing a transition for the climate.In summers that grow ever hotter, festivals delayed by increasingly unstable extreme weather are appearing, and the environment in which one can enjoy music is gradually shrinking. The "Pentaport Rock Festival," counted as Korea's largest rock festival, is held in the first week of August each year, but recently, with rising temperatures, fans' demands that the timing should perhaps be adjusted are growing ever stronger.[Fuji Rock Festival © Kim Won-sang]We must not stop at consuming music but must protect, together, the ground on which music can stand. It is not simple. We must feel some reflection and small responsibility about the dilemma that enjoying a hobby and preventing greenhouse-gas emissions are in conflict. I want to share with more people this complex and subtle emotion I felt after visiting the Fuji Rock Festival. The more we do, the closer I believe we can get to overcoming the climate crisis.By Kim Won-sang (Media Communications, Solutions for Our Climate)
"J.P. Morgan Chase" (hereafter "JPMorgan"), the largest bank in the United States, announced a carbon-credit tokenization project. This innovative project, announced on July 2, is an ambitious attempt to solve the fundamental problems of the existing carbon market with blockchain technology. Tokenization refers to the technology of converting physical carbon credits into digital tokens on a blockchain. Each token represents the removal or prevention of one ton of carbon dioxide, and it guarantees perfect traceability based on the immutability and transparency of the blockchain. JPMorgan's solution directly tokenizes carbon credits registered in registry systems, making it possible to track the entire life cycle in real time, from issuance to retirement. Through this, it can remove the risk of double counting — in which a single carbon credit is simultaneously recognized or traded in different trading systems — in the carbon trading market, and build a consistent tokenized carbon ecosystem between sellers and buyers.[JPMorgan Chase © JPMorgan]A Technical Approach to Solving the Market's ProblemsJPMorgan's private blockchain network "Kinexys" concluded partnerships with three major carbon registries — S&P Global Commodity Insights, EcoRegistry, and the International Carbon Registry (ICR). The core is developing an application that converts carbon credits registered in the registry systems these institutions manage into blockchain tokens.EcoRegistry and the International Carbon Registry have each already successfully completed testing of their respective solutions. S&P Global Commodity Insights begins its test through "Environmental Registry," a customized registry-service platform for whole-life-cycle tracking and improved management of carbon credits. Going forward, a meta registry — a system that integrates and manages multiple carbon registries — is also to be included in the testing.This pilot program focuses on managing accounts, projects, and the credit life cycle — that is, the process from the creation to the recovery of credits. The goal is to test technical connectivity, data-model compatibility, and overall functionality so that external stakeholders can more easily read and use registry data. This is also a measure to solve various problems in the current carbon-credit market. Problems that have long created concern about carbon trading are becoming a threat to the credibility of the credit market as well. The tracking of carbon credits from issuance to retirement is still assessed as opaque. Concerns about greenwashing also persist.Alastair Northway, head of natural-resources advisory at JPMorgan Payments, emphasized, "The voluntary carbon market is in desperate need of innovation. Tokenization can support the development of a globally interoperable system that will improve trust in the underlying infrastructure. With this technology, greater information and price transparency can be secured, and ultimately market liquidity can be increased."[The Kinexys logo © Kinexys by J.P. Morgan]The Rapidly Growing Carbon Trading Market, an Investment OpportunityJPMorgan's carbon-credit tokenization is part of its digital-asset strategy. Kinexys, in operation since 2015, has established itself as a global leader in the field of moving funds, assets, and information through blockchain-based infrastructure. This past May, it succeeded in cross-settlement between private and public blockchains, and it is actively pursuing the integration of the existing financial system and blockchain — such as recognizing shares of BlackRock's US bitcoin spot ETF (IBIT) as loan collateral. In June, it also applied for a trademark for "JPM Coin (JPMD)," a digital deposit token backed 1:1 in US-dollar value on the crypto-based Base network. In addition, JPMorgan is strengthening its role in the carbon market — for instance, contracting with the Canadian carbon-capture company "CO280" for 450,000 tons of carbon-removal services over 13 years at a price of less than 200 dollars per ton.As of 2025, the global carbon-credit market is valued at 933.2 billion dollars, and its value is expected to grow to the level of trillions of dollars by 2030. The demand for carbon-offset purchases by major companies facing their 2030 carbon-neutrality targets is also projected to surge. A carbon offset means pursuing activities that reduce carbon emissions in order to offset or reduce carbon emissions. Carbon-offset prices are currently formed in a wide range from 1 dollar to 100 dollars per ton, and their value is determined by the type and efficiency of the pollution-prevention activity. Over the next few years, offset purchases by companies to meet their carbon-emission quotas are expected to increase greatly.[EcoRegistry, which announced its participation in the project © EcoRegistry]The Partners' Roles, and Expected EffectsJonty Rushforth, head of product and portfolio for the energy-transition division at S&P Global Commodity Insights, expressed the expectation, "We are glad that JPMorgan's Kinexys has recognized the value and mission of 'Environmental Registry,' and if this collaborative test proceeds as expected and eventually includes the meta registry, we will be able to expand the Environmental Registry infrastructure solution into the financial industry and create an innovative expansion of the carbon market."Juan Durán, CEO of EcoRegistry, also explained a positive outlook: "The carbon market is continuously evolving, connecting core elements to strengthen trust and transparency across the ecosystem. Integration with Kinexys digital assets is an important step in expanding the role of the financial sector in this field."This project foreshadows a paradigm shift in environmental finance beyond a mere technical experiment. If successful, it could become the foundation of an international verification standard, building a more robust cooperation system among the market, registries, and regulators. As the use of blockchain technology spreads in the global climate-finance market, let us watch whether a new environmental-finance ecosystem that can secure transparency and efficiency at the same time will be built. by Editor L
There are many brands that call for changing our thinking about the Environment. But there are not many brands whose goal is changing our behavior itself. Toun28 belongs to the latter. CEO Park Jun-su, shocked by the number of animals falling victim to the plastic waste humans produce, and CEO Jung Maria, deeply versed in natural cosmetics, lead the brand with the emphasis on our "action."In its early days, what drew attention to Toun28 was that it was "vegan cosmetics that invested more in ingredients than in containers." That it made cosmetics with good seasonal raw materials whose origins were transparently disclosed, tailored to the skin of each individual who sought Toun28, quickly spread by word of mouth. The packaging, considered less important than good-quality cosmetics, was based on paper. That ingredients matter more than a fancy container for cosmetics seems obvious at a glance, but for a beauty brand raised under the competitive logic of the era of overproduction, it would not have been an easy choice.[Toun28 CEO Jung Maria © Toun28 official Instagram]But Toun28 created the brand's distinctiveness by practicing its philosophy not as one-off marketing but as continuous action. And it is transparently disclosing how much that distinctiveness is leading to concrete results.The Power of a Brand That Leads to Better ChoicesWhen you access the Toun28 website and click "Mission," multi-digit numbers catch the eye. The numbers represent the amount Toun28 has contributed to date toward supplying biodegradable fishing gear, and the number of plastic bottles we have reduced. The amount of trash picked up through plogging activities, and the number of the "Toun28 Earth Task Force" who took part in plogging, are also considerable. From its early days, Toun28 has supported the supply of biodegradable nets with 1% of the sales funds of the brand's official online store. It is the result value of efforts focused on the action of making and clearing away less of the marine trash — such as waste fishing nets that take the lives of more than 200 million animals a year.[Their meaningful action results, confirmable in concrete numbers © Toun28 website]The philosophy that action is important to draw out results is also expressed through practice. Designating the 28th of every month as "Ton Day," all of Toun28's employees act for the environment, such as through plogging. On Ton Day this past May, they carried out "Hongdae City Plogging," and on Ton Day in June, ocean plogging. On Ton Day, they pick up not only marine trash — the origin of Toun28's problem awareness — but also trash from urban streets around us like Hongdae and from construction sites. This routine of Toun28 shows that it is settling the company's mission not as a mere declaration but as a culture.[The reef-guardian campaign together with Outrigger and Toun28 © Outrigger Resorts]Its connections to outside the company are also active. Recently, Toun28 is carrying out a "reef-safe campaign" together with the global resort brand "Outrigger Resorts & Hotels," to mark June's "World Ocean Month." As part of the environmental campaign, it raises awareness of the importance of "reef-safe sun-care products" that do not threaten marine ecosystems, and encourages consumers' environmentally conscious choices by providing harmless sunscreen and more.A World Inconvenience Will Change: A Challenge Toward a Sustainable FutureThe concrete result of choices for the environment is precisely Toun28's solid-beauty product line. Toun28 is the brand that first coined the term "solid beauty," and a pioneer that popularized in Korea plastic-package-free solid products such as shampoo bars and body-wash bars. Its natural shampoo bar, with kelp, black beans, and bamboo charcoal as main ingredients, surpassed a cumulative 1.6 million units in sales.[Toun28 shampoo bar © Toun28]With ten times the ingredients concentrated compared with liquid products and containing no preservatives, the solid products are excellent not only in being eco-friendly but also in efficacy. A soap-form shampoo bar, unlike liquid shampoo, needs no packaging and thus creates no plastic waste. However, the "inconvenience" of consumers who think the method of use is more cumbersome than liquid-beauty products — which can be pressed to use as much as one likes — could also become a barrier to approaching the brand. The paper packaging that made Toun28 widely known can also be more inconvenient than a plastic container.Through the website, CEO Park Jun-su made Toun28's path clear with the message, "The era in which convenience changes the world is now over. Now comes the era in which inconvenience changes the world." And that meaningful inconvenience is being accepted by consumers as a new value can be confirmed by Toun28's growth.[Toun28's skincare using eco-friendly paper packaging © Toun28]The results of Toun28's growth — sales that grew rapidly after 2020, settling in the upper ranks of vegan-cosmetics brand reputation on par with formidable global and large-corporate brands, and environmental-campaign collaborations with various brands — are all the result of the "good inconvenience" that consumers willingly choose. The "acting beauty" that Toun28 pursues is not a mere slogan but the realization of a new consumption paradigm. Here is a sustainable future of beauty, made together by a brand that acts directly for the environment beyond thinking about it, and consumers who join in that action.An SNS event is in full swing, together with "Toun28," tomorrow's skincare that acts, and "ESG.ONL," today's reading for tomorrow. Visit the ESG.ONL Instagram right now :)>> ESG.ONL Instagram (click!) by Editor L
By Lee Choong-gul (essayist, former editor-in-chief of GQ Korea, author of the novel "Your Face") · July 9, 2025My first car was a 3-door Pride FS. A blood-colored, seven-year-old used car. I sealed the cracked taillight lamp with box tape, the wiper drew a fan shape on the glass, cigarette smoke that had gone in and out of someone else's insides invaded through the gap in the window, and it stalled once on a road in Sinchon — but I loved my car. Back then, a car was a matter of conviction. The belief that there is a road, the fantasy that the road will always continue, the self-deception that the fuel will never run out.[ⓒESG.ONL]In the old days, everyone loved speed. Nor were we prepared to give up speed. Because we had been trained as such a moving species, and because we long believed the lie that speed is the proof of existence. And because there was no pleasure quite like it. Thus humans made engines, burned fuel, and swallowed roads. Essentially, even if you park the car, the Earth turns and we too are accelerating. The sense of stopping is so impractical that it reads rather as regression. Zero-to-sixty is class, the speedometer coordinates, the fuel gauge a bank balance. Here, Seoul, jammed every single day, became the front line of speed, and the roads willingly schemed for the physical extension of a fast-forwarded life.The people growling with engines on the morning road reflect back not the destination the GPS tells them but the things behind it — the inside of the worn tire's skin, the moisture cooling the radiator, the shouts blocked out between the soundproofed doors. The world rotates twice. Once along the reciprocating motion of the piston, and once within the vapor called ethics. The former's rhythm is mechanical; the latter's rotation is morally irregular.[ⓒESG.ONL]When the automobile civilization that arose from the Detroit factory floor a century ago covers the planet with the murmur of 100 million internal-combustion engines, weaves a million feedback circuits, and races into the heart of capitalism, finished-car companies assemble and procure these through a monstrous supply chain extending to first-, second-, and third-tier suppliers. (Like a relative abruptly bringing up a philosophical story, my emotions churn on their own.) This structure is surely efficient, but what's beneath the wheels is hard to see.Nitpicking like a fussy village schoolmaster, some report describes that 6 to 17 tons of carbon dioxide are emitted when making a single car. It reduces carbon dioxide roughly, they say, but electric-vehicle batteries would presuppose high-density mining of lithium, nickel, and cobalt — and in which country, by what method, through what route it came to the factory is opaque. Lithium dries up the salt lakes of Chile, cobalt is extracted under the shadow of child labor in the Congo, nickel digs up the lowlands of Uzbekistan. Here a few questions fill every corner of the car's blueprint. Is the electricity at that charging station really renewable energy? On whose life was the supply route laid?[ⓒESG.ONL]In chemistry class at fifteen, in a classroom where a globe rolled about, while everyone wilted without even a fan's breeze, the teacher said the Earth was dying. The Earth was dying then too, and it is dying more each day now. Only, these days the way it dies has become a bit more expensive. Recycling, circulation, carbon neutrality, electric cars, hydrogen cars. All these words have become a luxurious religious rite by the name of eco-friendliness, so behold, the day of being saved with a single button has come.To me, the acronym ESG — vaguely abstract and at times hard as a matchbox — gives off a strange pheromone smell. Something like a spell that Shakespeare's three witches brewed by mixing guilt, imbalance, and some nightmare. In any case, the presence that the neologism ESG now has in the auto industry is as heavy as a single drop of oil and as delicate as a single watt of electricity. Yet in a situation where a dozen buckets of cars pour out every day and the roads can't even handle it, ESG sometimes appears as a detour that avoids controversy. And it is too technical to speak of the future. So more footnotes are needed.Right on cue, the car companies moved. One company uses recycled fabric in large quantities, another installs solar panels, and yet another announces it will do away with internal-combustion engines. There is no slogan as hungry as this — one where it's unclear whether the words "for the Earth" are symbol or system, or an apology for values already broken. What? So you're saying you'll bring light to the factory, eyes to the supply chain, questions to the board?When ESG works not as a question but as a declaration, it becomes unsettling. Something like hastily putting on a straight face. The feeling that when someone proclaims "I've decided to live good now," they're already not good. Because a declaration of apology also looks like a statement of account, a report, or a brochure rather than an apology. In any case, industry seems to have an aspect of keeping balance with hidden facts, concealed relationships, structured silence, and unpronounced things. Whether it's a new market strategy or the consumerization of ethics, the obsessive systematization of the public good exposes how anxious they are, and at the same time how sorry.[ⓒESG.ONL]The name "eco-friendly car" also invites slight suspicion, but I don't want to condemn it blindly. Suspicion is an efficient purification mechanism, and we justify ourselves through condemnation, persuading ourselves that we are the better axis. What is clear is that Toyota, which persuaded the world with hybrids, or Tesla, which molded desire with batteries, or Hyundai, which took the lead in hydrogen fuel-cell technology, are surely not a squad of superheroes saving the Earth — but at least they would have wished to wreck it a little less.But, in a moment of carelessness, the era that shimmered with the pleasure of engine sound set. No one is even seen arguing over which engine is strongest. To think, the dream of speed is now the days of asking speed's guilt. Whatever the case, speed itself is not a sin. Only the direction is the problem.A friend who had only ever driven diesel cars changed his electric car twice in three years. The first time, it was because of the government subsidy, the charging station near his home, and the half-price rate at the public parking lot in front of his company. The second time he changed, the biggest reason was jealousy that an ugly junior had bought a Tesla, but anyway he searched the battery's country of origin and chose fabric seats over leather. (But when the charging line grew as long as a National Assembly hearing, the Earth was saved, but the citizen's patience died.)[ⓒESG.ONL]This summer, I sat in the passenger seat of that friend's car, and it was so quiet that I felt a little uneasy. Because the quieter the car gets, the less we exist. Because the more the car thinks, the less we think. Some technology will easily exclude humans and, using convenience as an excuse, shrink the human's place. Still, it wasn't that I disliked it. Because being peaceful is, in any case, addictive.Rather, there was comfort. Inside the car, I could hear the city's minute breathing. Vapor rising from the drain, the sound of a bicycle chain, the sound of a child dropping a milk bottle. When I suddenly grew drowsy, I couldn't tell whether the car was running, veering off onto a side road, or passing through a heat haze."The car is so quiet I feel like I've disappeared."Once I said it, it sounded to my own ears like a really good metaphor explaining the dilemma of the auto industry.Everything seethed with antinomy. The engine grew quiet, but the city grew noisier. We reduced exhaust gas, but couldn't turn off the anger within us. However fast we ran, the destination was far. At such times even the word "stop" becomes part of speed and disguises itself in the name of acceleration. At that very moment, if you slam the brakes, you'll gain even a bit of moral satisfaction.My love for the Pride was at times irresponsible, and nostalgia was often ignorant. But a car was, from the beginning, not a machine to me but a narrative. The night harbor, the morning rice fields, the utility poles along the national highway. In my youth, riding a moving box, I tasted what lay beyond the city's edge.[ⓒESG.ONL]Now I drive a more ethical car than my father's generation, but my father's generation treated cars with a more ethical attitude. My father's car is memory, my car is a social weathervane, and my son's car is, well, like the only chance at advice given to me. We tell our children "don't live like me," yet still commute at the same hour. Even while sitting in a hydrogen car reciting things about being for the environment, our hand turns the air conditioning to maximum. Still, when passing through the middle of the city in a way no one teaches, I suddenly ask, somewhere between reason and mechanical instinct. Can one be moving and quiet at the same time? Can one reduce carbon while enduring desire? I haven't even solved all the problems — which road should I take to get out?With my weakened and worsened eyesight I cannot drive, but I ride in a car every day. Late on a Friday night, when I see the line of headlights stuck and unable to move on the highway, my heart grows cold and warm at once. I don't know whether it is the fruit of technology or the loneliness of the year, but the car, whether jammed or flowing well, was carrying me somewhere.In July, when raindrops flow down the windshield of a Genesis GV60, everything looks beautiful. When you slow down and lower the window, you see another face of the city you didn't know as a pedestrian. A person leaning against a traffic light, a handcart disappearing into a bent alley, the fingertips of a woman sorting a garbage bag, some waiting hung on a single electric-vehicle charging cable. Upon the overlooked face of silence, so many mysterious invisible relationships are entangled.Changing the energy source doesn't mean the way of moving will change. The road is not an asphalt route but a collective fantasy about how the world works. We still go somewhere. We still race down the highway, still drink coffee in the car, still listen to music over Bluetooth.[ⓒESG.ONL]And so, someday, I want to write a single aphorism in black ink.Let all that runs, run.By Lee Choong-gul (essayist, former editor-in-chief of GQ Korea, author of the novel "Your Face")
This past Sunday, June 15, a special environmental-education workshop was held in Mullae-dong, Seoul. This "Climate Fresk" workshop — planned and promoted by "Jigureul Jikineun Baeumteo (Learning Ground That Protects the Earth)," a group of young environmental activists, and run on-site by the citizens' environmental group "People Who Think About the Environment" (hereafter "PWTE") — was a venue for ESG experiential learning that approached the climate crisis easily and enjoyably through play and discussion, heightening participants' immersion.ESG.ONL met PWTE again — introduced at the "Earth Day" event this past April — and, by taking part in this workshop in person, had a meaningful time of learning together with various people interested in the climate crisis.The Climate Crisis Unpacked with "Climate Fresk Cards"The workshop uses cards made based on the sixth report of the "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)," which has published six reports from 1988 to the present. Arranging a total of 42 cards based on scientific data by group, it strengthens awareness of climate change. This movement began in 2015 when Cédric Ringenbach, a French engineer and expert in the field of climate and energy transition, did an exercise with students at a university, arranging IPCC graphs in order of cause and effect. It then spread rapidly worldwide, the "La Fresque du Climat (Climate Fresk) association" was established in 2018, and it has now established itself as a global education movement in which more than 1.9 million people in over 100 countries participate.Workshop participants form teams and, following the facilitator's guidance, place and adjust the cards themselves to visually understand the causes and effects of the climate crisis. Because the cards are organically connected to one another, following the larger context lets you grasp more accurately the reasons that created the climate crisis we now experience.[The scene of heated discussion during the Climate Fresk card game © ESG.ONL]The Cause and Effect Surrounding the Climate CrisisThe fact that "when carbon emissions increase, sea levels rise, and this in turn leads to the destruction of ecosystems and the risk of humanity's collective demise" is now a well-known story. Looking at this in more detail, the climate crisis begins from the initial cause of human activity. Various human activities such as agriculture, industry, and deforestation caused environmental problems, and the excessive use of fossil fuels caused an additional greenhouse effect, accelerating global warming. Water temperatures rise, and as glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice melt, sea levels rise. Sea-level rise not only floods low-lying areas but also seriously damages the water-circulation and exchange system, becoming the cause of the extreme weather anomalies we are directly experiencing — heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and more.Such environmental problems reduce crop yields, threaten our health, and cause the loss of animal and plant habitats. Through a chain effect, they expand into global problems such as deepening inequality, famine, population movement, and armed conflict.Through the game of arranging cards, participants explained the structure they understood, adding the power of collective intelligence, and built up learning by asking questions. Once the scattered cards found their places, and the connecting lines between cards were drawn with a pen to internalize the complexly entangled structure of the climate crisis, by the time the workshop ended, anyone who participated could explain the climate crisis in detail.[PWTE head Lee Dong-ho © ESG.ONL]Sharing Climate Emotions and Pledging Climate ActionThe Climate Fresk workshop, beyond simply conveying knowledge, continued into a time for participants to share their thoughts and emotions with one another. The process in which people of various occupations and age groups gather and solve problems with the power of collective intelligence teaches the necessity of the citizens' environmental movement and the importance of participation. Participants shared impressions such as, "Sharing our anxiety about the climate crisis, I felt camaraderie communicating with those who have the same worries and want to act." Another attendee revealed the ambition to widely publicize such a citizen-action workshop to those around them, saying, "Behind one person are ten, and behind those ten are another ten, so I believe my actions and practice efforts can spread quickly."[Seen on a five-year-average basis, 1.5 degrees still holds hope © ESG.ONL]Before the 1.5-Degree Rise: The Chance Still Left to UsThe news that the 1.5-degree line of the Earth's average temperature was already exceeded in 2024 dealt a shock to many people. At the Climate Fresk theory-education session, PWTE head Lee Dong-ho conveyed that there is still hope, saying, "If you set the period as a five-year average and check, it has not yet exceeded 1.5 degrees." The reason international organizations such as the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) and the IPCC look at a five-year average of temperature rise is to remove natural variability and grasp the essential trend of human-caused climate change. So Lee emphasized that an attitude of striving for individuals and society to change together, starting now, is important.Climate Fresk gives ESG stakeholders good insight into the climate crisis and sustainable development, and gives general readers interested in environmental issues the stimulus to join in climate action. If there are ESG stakeholders who talk about ESG in practice but found it hard to share climate emotions in real life, or citizens who had a heart for the environment but pondered how to understand and confront this problem, we recommend experiencing the Climate Fresk workshop together. In the process of setting and presenting positive practice goals for a better future, you will encounter a small hope for the future that will change. by Editor L
President Lee Jae-myung, just two weeks after his inauguration, attended the G7 Summit held in Canada last week, announcing an early debut on the international diplomatic stage. This summit attendance carries the meaning of informing the international community of the recovery of Korean democracy — having overcome political turmoil — and of its diplomatic stability. There was also active discussion of sustainable growth and ESG. The heads of state who gathered in one place for the G7 Summit discussed future-oriented policy measures such as an integrated approach to energy security and climate-change response, the expansion of renewable energy and enhancement of energy efficiency, the stabilization of critical-mineral supply chains, and the integration of AI and energy systems. Agenda items related to sustainable development, such as biodiversity conservation and sustainable finance, were also included.The "ESG Theme" at the Center of the G7 SummitLet us look at how this year's G7 Summit dealt with sustainability and ESG. This summit was conducted by adopting ISO 20121, the international standard certification for managing sustainable events in consideration of environmental sustainability, and by checking carbon-emission accounting, renewable-energy use, and zero-waste practices during the summit period. Operations that reduced single-use plastic use during the event and improved waste-management measures were also actively reflected. In addition to such practical efforts, the heads of state at the G7 Summit presented concrete policy recommendations for ESG-related fields such as energy transition, industrial decarbonization, sustainable finance, and biodiversity conservation. T7 (Think7), a private-sector expert group for proposing policy to the G7 Summit, also proposed ideas such as optimizing energy grids using AI, sustainable mining of critical minerals and the introduction of circular-economy models, and international cooperation to halt biodiversity loss.[Representatives of each country attending the G7 Summit © G7 joint press corps]The Policy Proposals President Lee Jae-myung Announced at the G7 SummitPresident Lee Jae-myung, who attended the G7 Summit, informed the international community of Korea's will to actively contribute to global energy security and sustainable development under the theme "the future of energy security." President Lee particularly emphasized the need to diversify energy supply chains and to integrate AI and energy in order to respond to the surge in power demand caused by the advance of AI technology, as well as climate change and geopolitical instability. He also proposed to the international community the innovative energy systems he had promised through his pledges — such as expanding the share of renewable energy using domestic resources, building an "energy highway" using high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission networks, and introducing "microgrids" in which energy production and consumption take place at the local level. In fact, Korea plans to invest 14.8 billion dollars in renewable-energy research and development in 2025 to greatly increase the installation of solar and offshore-wind generation facilities, and it has also secured the world's second-largest position in lithium-ion battery production. The government is undertaking investment in clean-energy projects in emerging countries and the development of common standards for hydrogen infrastructure through a 5-trillion-won Green Transition Fund and Green Resilience facilities.[President Lee Jae-myung with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru © BBC]Our Challenge Unfolded at the G7 Summit, the World's FutureThis G7 Summit was an occasion that laid the foundation for Korea to play a key role among global sustainability and ESG issues. It is a cornerstone for strengthening a leading position in the future industries dealt with at the summit. On the global diplomatic stage, Korea and the international community are expected to strengthen practical action centered on the agenda discussed at this summit. They will expand financial support so that the G7 countries — as well as the middle-power and developing countries that attended this meeting — can pursue policies, and will hurry to handle common tasks such as strengthening the resilience of global supply chains mired in a worldwide recession and accelerating industrial decarbonization.[President Lee Jae-myung attending the G7 Summit © Yonhap News]US President Donald Trump returned home hastily on the first day of the G7 Summit, saying it was to resolve the Middle East conflict, so a Korea-US summit unfortunately did not come to pass. However, President Lee Jae-myung strove to fill the diplomatic vacuum of the intervening period by conducting summit diplomacy with a total of nine countries, including South Africa, Australia, Japan, and Brazil. As discussion of ESG finds momentum again from the start of the popular-sovereignty government, Korea will build a new paradigm centered on sustainability and ESG on the international stage. by Editor L
· June 19, 2025There are brands that place at the center of their branding the practice of ESG management for a sustainable future in which ecosystems and humans achieve harmony, beyond simple beauty. Representative eco-friendly beauty brands that many people would think of in connection with ESG — Lush, Aesop, Toun28, Biotherm, and others — win consumers' response by weaving various social responsibilities into their brand philosophies, such as ecosystem protection, respect for animal rights, zero waste, and the restoration of oceans and forests. As summer arrives, when demand for new beauty products grows, ESG.ONL introduces four beauty brands that can help with conscious choices that consider not only oneself but even the environment.Lush's Species-Protection and Habitat-Restoration Project"Lush," the UK's representative eco-friendly naturalist cosmetics brand, has aimed since its founding for a healthy ecosystem cycle in which humans and nature achieve harmony, beyond simple sustainability. As part of such eco-friendly moves, Lush Korea recently, to mark the "International Day for Biological Diversity," released the "Hutan Bath Bomb" for the restoration of the long-tailed macaque — a "keystone species" (a core species of the ecosystem) living on Simeulue Island in Indonesia — and its tropical rainforest. The Hutan Bath Bomb, characterized by a sweet, refreshing fruit scent, is a product that takes on a green color and spreads when it dissolves in water, evoking the forest where the animals live. Lush, which stated that it directly contributed to the protection of endangered species and habitat restoration by donating 75% of the product's sales proceeds to the nonprofit foundation "Ecosystem Impact," plans to expand its keystone product line for endangered core species and habitats in urgent need of conservation efforts.[Hutan, a bath bomb modeled after the keystone species long-tailed macaque © Lush]Aesop, Striving for Ethical Sourcing and Expanded Local-Ecosystem Protection"Aesop," an Australian global eco-friendly beauty brand and a company that has also obtained B-Corp certification, places importance on ecosystem protection. It also strives for ESG management with a life-cycle-assessment system that goes through environmental-impact assessment across the entire[Eleos Aromatique Hand Balm © Aesop]product-production process and manages a decarbonization roadmap. Aesop recently released the "Eleos" series, including a body cleanser and an aromatic hand balm; the Eleos line, meaning "mercy, compassion" in Greek, contains the meaning of taking time to consider and respect oneself, others, and nature. Aesop's ESG policy for practicing animal rights and ecosystem protection — that all Aesop products are vegan products that use no animal testing and no animal-derived ingredients — also helps with the choice. Furthermore, Aesop is seeking partnerships with local communities for ecosystem restoration and the enhancement of agricultural diversity.[Haenam 404 Pepti-Cica Dawn Cream © Toun28]Toun28: A Customized Vegan Beauty Brand's Protection of Local Agricultural Diversity"Toun28 (TOUN28)," a representative domestic vegan beauty brand, makes 100% vegan-certified products that use no animal testing and no animal-derived ingredients. Toun28, which seeks to provide smart, fresh skincare reflecting the consumer's skin concerns, climate, and even the environment through a customized subscription service, is characterized by a service that custom-makes products once a month to match the user's skin condition and seasonal change. It also takes the lead in practicing zero waste by using recycled paper containers instead of plastic containers and by developing solid beauty products, gaining great response from consumers who value conscious consumption. Among Toun28's products, which minimize skin irritation with plant-derived preservative ingredients, the Haenam 404 Pepti-Cica Dawn Cream is distinctive in that it is made from 100% pesticide-free centella — certified eco-friendly produce grown directly by purchasing a field in Haenam. Such a production process also contributes to protecting the local ecosystem and agricultural diversity, and has the meaning of creating a sustainable beauty culture for both the environment and humans.Biotherm: Marine Biodiversity Protection and Marine-Pollution Prevention"Biotherm," a French premium skincare brand, is focusing in 2025 on protecting marine biodiversity and preventing marine pollution. Through a program called "Water Lovers," Biotherm supports various projects such as collecting marine trash for the restoration of marine ecosystems and protecting marine-life habitats, which are a treasure trove of Blue Carbon, and it is developing campaigns that raise awareness of marine plastic pollution. It uses ingredients that do not harm marine biodiversity, and also carries out sustainable management activities such as a life-cycle-assessment system. In addition, it operates eco-friendly practice campaigns together with consumers, working to improve the awareness of more people. Through such activities, Biotherm conveys the message that it "will continuously strive for a healthy Earth where all life coexists."[Biotherm Aquapower Advanced Gel Pro © Biotherm]The beauty brands loved by many consumers — Lush, Aesop, Toun28, and Biotherm — are creating ecosystem protection and a sustainable future, with the common point of having good brand philosophies and with their respective points of differentiation. The activities they unfold aim, beyond the level of mere promotion and marketing, at positive change through consumers' everyday use of products. There is a forecast that this summer, having entered the era of the climate crisis, will be as hot as last summer, which was scorching. This summer, how about thinking about where and how your beauty products — including the products introduced in this article — came from, what environmental impact they have, and what campaigns they run through what programs to lead to better practice? by Editor L [Reference Article] Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)