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Morning features and interviews. A morning story over a cup.
"Quality Never Goes Out of Style."[The slogan of the jeans brand Levi's © Levi's]This is the slogan written on the label of "Levi's," a jeans brand loved by many. The paradox of a fashion brand talking about quality rather than style explains why this brand, which began in 1853, is still loved today. In modern society, fashion has established itself, beyond a part of the basics of living, as an element of economic value and cultural expression. But as awareness of this industry's negative impact on the environment has accumulated, it is being asked for sustainability, as recently in many fields. The fashion industry's carbon emissions account for about 10% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, which is more than the aviation and shipping industries combined. Water is used to the tune of 920 billion tons each year, an amount that 10% of the world's population could use for a year. The problem does not end here. Social problems — labor exploitation, low wages, and poor working environments that threaten underdeveloped and developing countries in pursuit of cheap production costs — are also not unfamiliar. Consumers now take an interest in such problems and choose friendly products. Furthermore, they also make a brand's ethical management an important purchase-decision factor. Because of this, sustainable fashion brands are increasing in the fashion industry, which is sensitive to consumer interest. Although their influence and results so far are slight, sustainable fashion brands have emerged to solve the burden of excessive resource consumption, using eco-friendly materials, recycling, and upcycling. They also leave declarations to fulfill social responsibility. Modern fashion brands are, beyond simply selling products, presenting a vision to make a better world. In this context, the clothing brand "Patagonia" launched "Patagonia School" in Korea in April 2024.The Reason "Patagonia School" Was Born: The Barrier That Is PatagoniaTo understand Patagonia School, let us refer to a comment left on a blog by Seo Jin-seok, a research fellow at Inno Social Lab who planned this project.*"In January 2017, the mission of the 'Beyond CSR, Patagonia' project was not simply to make Patagonia known. By presenting Patagonia as the North Star of CSR, it was to help change the direction of Korea's CSR. At the time it started, many knew Patagonia only simply as the company that ran the 'Don't Buy This Jacket' campaign, or did not know it properly. The North Star of CSR at the time was Yuhan-Kimberly. (...omitted...) Now, seven years later, it is hard to find anyone who denies Patagonia's status as the North Star of CSR. But rather, another barrier has arisen: dismissing Patagonia as an 'insurmountable wall' and writing it off as a different world."*To turn away from Patagonia because it does too well. Meaningful, but an ironic situation. So this project team felt the need to reset the mission it had set for itself, and after pondering from 2022, in April 2024, through the approval of headquarters, it established the "Patagonia Unfashionable Business School (hereafter Patagonia School)." For Patagonia School's curriculum and specific ideal, refer to the following:• First, a person who has a sense of calling in the fields of social innovation and ESG going forward, and who can educate and share problem awareness with people who will work hard from a social-change perspective.• Second, a person who can visit Patagonia's headquarters in Ventura, California, USA, and bring back discussion and inspiration.• Third, a person who recognizes that the current ESG is unsustainable — that a net-zero-centered strategy can never solve the environmental crisis and inequality — and who is capable of an Earth-ecosystem-centered approach.• Fourth, a person who can find their own direction as a participant.In-House Philosopher Vincent Stanley Becomes PrincipalPatagonia has an executive in charge of corporate philosophy. "Vincent Stanley," who serves as Director of Philosophy at Patagonia, was with founder Yvon Chouinard from the early days of the company's founding. Such a person took up the role of principal of "Patagonia School," established by Patagonia Korea. Having worked at this company for over 50 years, he is said to have accepted this role with expectation and hope for how the radical yet hopeful management philosophy Patagonia has shown will be applied to Patagonia School, and how this seed will connect to other countries. In a recent Hankyoreh 21 interview, he cited the following three items as reasons for the high level of cultural confidence Patagonia holds:["Vincent Stanley," Patagonia's Director of Philosophy and principal of Patagonia School © Patagonia]• First, the steady effort of the Chouinard family to "consider human happiness and the good of the Earth" in every decision we make.• Second, that most Patagonia employees made the same steady effort equally.• Third, that all employees have pride in the products and services we make.Patagonia School was planned and established by people from public enterprises, Patagonia Korea, social enterprises, and investment companies gathering together. The curriculum is said to have referred to Director of Philosophy Vincent Stanley's book "The Responsible Company." So it was all too natural that he took up the principal role himself. Patagonia School's first cohort, which began in April 2024, started with a total of 8 people. Even in the first semester, CSR and ESG officers from many companies are said to have applied. They conduct classes in the form of special lectures, presentations, discussions, and topic discussions until September, and in October they visit Patagonia's headquarters. The reason Patagonia School exists is to dream that, through such study, discussion, observation, and reporting, company workers become "seeds" that realize a new capitalism.Do Companies Have Souls Too?Patagonia, which answers this question loudly through a megaphone, supports the efforts of company workers connected to realizing CSR and ESG, as "seeds of a new capitalism" to confront the climate crisis. With the wish that those seeds, like dandelion spores, return to their respective places and become the new seeds of those companies.[The DON'T BUY THIS JACKET ad that made Patagonia known to the world © Patagonia]The brand Patagonia gives substance to a vision to make a better world, beyond a value of merely selling more goods. And it does it well. Patagonia School is closer to the story of a brand creating new possibilities beyond what Patagonia does well. The results are not yet known. But the inspiration this new experiment offers to the companies around it is certain.by Editor N
The Problem of Our Society's Vulnerable Employment SystemKorea's employment system is always referred to as an important social problem. There are various methods too — from relocating government offices to selecting strong local companies and supporting regional universities. We seek change within the system we have, but reality is not easy. In 2021, Hana Financial Group derived "creating quality jobs" through finance as a major agenda of its ESG management strategy. As a financial company, it identified job creation as the social problem it would confront. And as a start, in 2022 it launched the job brand "Hana Power On," which can contribute to socially balanced development, and is operating programs for those who need quality jobs — university students, youth, startups, seniors, and more.[The Hana Power On brand © Hana Financial Group]Supporting the Growth of Social-Innovation Companies and Contributing to Job Creation"Hana Power On" began with a clear mission. Hana Financial Group seeks to support the growth of social-innovation companies and contribute to job creation. Together with various stakeholders who agree with this mission — government, academia, expert partner companies, and more — it sought ideas for creating quality jobs, and after conducting small-scale pilot tests, officially launched "Hana Power On." Hana Power On began with four representative job programs: fostering youth startups at regional universities, matching social-innovation companies with youth internships, discovering and investing in social-innovation companies, and improving mid-to-older-age job skills and job matching. Now in its third year, let us review this job brand from the perspective of the "Healthy & Sustainable Living" study released by the research firm "GlobeScan."1. Make it meaningful | Purpose-oriented branding for sustainability"Hana Financial Group," presenting the ESG vision "Big Step for Tomorrow" in 2022, set ESG mid-to-long-term promotion goals of achieving 60 trillion won in ESG finance by 2030, and zero site carbon emissions and zero coal project financing by 2050. Based on those goals, it gathered various job ideas in 2022 and launched the job brand "Hana Power On." The department operating this brand is Hana Financial Group's ESG Planning Team, which aims to approach the social problems finance can solve with sincerity and to work for a broad range of financial consumers without prejudice of age, gender, region, and so on.[The Hana Power On program held in 2023 © Hana Financial Group]2. Make it big | Expanding the scale of consumer behavior changeHana Power On, which began with four representative job programs in 2022, expanded the project to "Hana Digital Power On" in 2023 to discover talent fusing finance and digital. In addition, it incorporated into "Hana Power On Care" support projects for resolving social inequality through support for vulnerable groups — support for small business owners, self-reliance support for unwed mothers, support for abused children, and so on. With this, it created two large axes: new job creation held in Hana Power On Challenge, and job creation through support held in Hana Power On Care.[A poster for "Hana Social Venture University," under way in 2024 © Hana Financial Group]3. Make it shine | Differentiating ESG efforts and results"Hana Power On" achieved several results in 2023. First, through the "Hana Social Venture University" program, which helps foster youth startups at regional universities, it selected 60 excellent startup teams out of 650 teams gathered from 30 universities nationwide and supported them with 150 million won. The "Innovative Enterprise Internship," which helps match social-innovation companies with youth internships, matched 230 companies nationwide with 230 interns, achieving an internship completion rate of 95.6% and a regular-conversion rate of 73.5%. The "Hana ESG Double Impact Matching Fund," which helps discover and invest in social-innovation companies, invested a total of 2.65 billion won in 14 innovative companies, and the value of the selected companies was assessed at about 139.7 billion won. "Second Life," which helps improve mid-to-older-age job skills and job matching, produced 1,153 online-education participants, 459 advanced-education completers, and 148 re-employed people. Lastly, the "Hana Digital Power On Project," which helps foster young digital talent, provided 15 teams of 44 participants with 30 million won in prize money and support for hiring at global companies. As a result of establishing the brand identity of a business focused on job creation and support and carrying out various communication, there was also the additional result of a 2,500% rise compared with the previous year in NAVER search trends in 2023.4. Make it easy | Lowering the accessibility of participationHana Power On was designed as everyone's brand, in which various stakeholders participate and operate together. Accordingly, various operators are pooling their intentions: the "Children and Future Foundation," which creates a society where all children and adolescents can play healthily, learn stably, and experience diversely, dreaming of and achieving a bright, healthy future without discrimination; "Sangsang Woori," which pays attention to the various problems of the newly middle-aged and, through various solutions, expands work opportunities and coordinates the job ecosystem; "Korea Social Investment," which makes a better world as a professional impact-business partner for sustainable growth; the "Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency," which helps social-economy companies grow stably and creates a healthy social-economy ecosystem; the social-innovation R&D company "Inno Social Lab"; the "Social Economy Vitalization Support Center," which supports the various activities of social-economy organizations; the Ministry of Employment and Labor; the "Work Together Foundation," which supports the growth of social enterprises; and the startup-education specialist company "Underdogs."5. Make it credible | Enhancing corporate and brand credibilityFor any company, the budget for a communication project is limited. To that extent, one cannot help but consider efficiency. From the early planning stage of "Hana Power On," effort was put into the SEO of the website that serves as a communication hub — recruitment, mediation, results sharing, and more. Simplifying the recruitment and application procedures to lower the participation barrier was also an important point. When developing communication assets, too, it created and distributed brand guidelines, and approached the users who needed it with a promotional strategy of spreading widely together with a media pool and partners with high target understanding.We have looked at Hana Financial Group's ESG brand "Hana Power On" from the above five perspectives. From this perspective, going forward "6. Make it affordable | A more reasonable pricing policy" and "7. Make it 'yes, and…' | Providing services that respond to sustainable consumption trends" should continue. In 2024, now in its third year, "Hana Power On" is still close to an incipient stage. Let us watch its growth as a brand that creates customized job opportunities for Korea's working-age population.By Editor N
Sustainable Resource Circulation: A New Revolution in Waste ManagementKorea achieved a high level of economic growth, accomplishing advanced industrialization and urbanization in a short time. This growth produced the side effect of large-scale waste generation, and its damage and treatment costs are increasing more and more. According to Statistics Korea, Korea treats about 150 million tons of waste each year, and a considerable portion of this is not recycled and heads to landfills or incinerators. On top of resources on an Earth living with limited resources, there is the bonus of serious environmental pollution from the treatment process and the obstacle it poses to sustainable development.SuperBin (hereafter "SuperBin") is a Korean climate-tech brand that noticed this problem and improves the waste-management system. SuperBin's automatic waste-sorting technology combines artificial intelligence and machine learning to accurately sort waste and recover recyclable resources as much as possible. Through this, it improves the recycling rate, reduces the negative impact of waste on the environment, and at the same time promotes resource circulation. Let us now learn about the approach of SuperBin, which seeks to create a global standard for waste-management technology beyond Korea.[A factory that doesn't look like a factory, located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province: SuperBin's I'm Factory © Kim Yi-hong Architects]Creating a World Where Trash Becomes Money and Recycling Becomes PlaySuperBin CEO Kim Jeong-bin created SuperBin in 2015 out of interest in environmental issues. He focused on automatic recognition and sorting systems among waste-management technologies, combining high-performance sensors with artificial intelligence. This technology, which quickly and accurately sorts various types of recyclable resources, is proving its cases through collaboration with various institutions and brands.[The Yeonnam-dong Trash Mart, carried out together by SuperBin, Coca-Cola, and WWF Korea © Coca-Cola YouTube]#1 NephronSuperBin's Nephron is a recyclable-resource recovery robot combining AI, Big Data, and IoT. Users gain monetary profit by trading the trash they throw away, and the traded trash becomes a resource again, building a circular-economy ecosystem. For B2B users or users trading large quantities of resources, it also operates a face-to-face recovery channel called "Super Moa."#2 Trash SpacesThe biggest feature of SuperBin's services is that it has fun content that can encourage the circular economy — a Trash Café selling upcycling menus and experience kits, a Trash Mart where you can shop with trash, "Super Rookie," which educates students on correct recycling awareness, and a Trash Art Museum where upcycled works can be exhibited.#3 Global Challenges and OpportunitiesCurrently, SuperBin is accelerating its expansion into the global market, based on successful verification of its business model in Korea. Based on a new approach that turns trash into play, it also obtained the safety standards of the US, Europe, and elsewhere and the Global Recycled Standard (GRS). Amid discussions worldwide to reduce plastic use, the forecast is that such demand will increase not only domestically but also abroad.[Citizens using Nephron, the recyclable-resource recovery robot © SuperBin]The Trash-Free World SuperBin EnvisionsCEO Kim Jeong-bin has revealed the ambition to "firmly build the circular-economy cycle of waste PET bottles and have ownership of the concept of 'circular economy.'" It is said he plans to expand the business by increasing waste items, and to continuously pay attention to spreading recycling culture with content that can prove the cultural value of recycling.SuperBin, which pursues continuous innovation and technological advancement in the waste-management field and plays a leading role among Korea's climate-tech brands, has to date attracted investment six times, recognized with cumulative investment of 46.7 billion won and a corporate value (valuation) of 250 billion won. With SuperBin's confirmed standing and brand value, let us look forward to the value of resources and the cultural environment surrounding the circular economy getting better.by Editor L[Climate-Tech Brands and ESG] When talking about the Earth's future, one cannot skip "climate change." Until a few years ago we used the term "climate change," but amid concerns that it lacked a sense of crisis, we now use the word "climate crisis." Since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, more practical concepts and goals such as 1.5°C and carbon-footprint management have been emphasized, and various stakeholders — each country's government, companies, non-governmental organizations, academia, and more — are seeking measures to respond to climate change. In this process, climate tech is playing an important role. Climate tech is a concept encompassing all strategic approaches to create a sustainable environment through technological innovation and to confront climate change and its aftermath. Climate-tech companies provide products and services through the development of technologies that will help respond to the climate crisis — renewable energy, increased energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage technology, eco-friendly building materials, sustainable agriculture, carbon-footprint reduction solutions, and more. ESG.ONL, today's magazine for tomorrow, seeks to introduce leading climate-tech brands through the "Climate Companion (Gihu Donghaeng)" series.
On April 25, Korea Social Investment (hereafter KSI) held a seminar under the theme "Nonprofits Speak of Impact Investing," together with experts from various fields — academia, the legal community, nonprofits, and the private sector. Through expert presentations and discussion, this seminar shone a light on donation-based nonprofit-ecosystem impact-investing activities and the results of ESG open innovation. Founded in 2012, KSI is an ESG and impact-investing firm that, under the mission "We support the growth of businesses that make a better world," focuses on investment in ESG and social-impact fields such as climate tech, social services, and agri-food.["Nonprofits Speak of Impact Investing" seminar © Korea Social Investment]"Impact investing," counted as the most active method among ESG investments, refers to investment that considers businesses which, through the investment, deliver not only returns but also a positive impact on society and the environment. It is similar to socially responsible investment (SRI)* in that it excludes so-called "bad companies" and invests in "good companies," but it differs in that it invests long-term, with concrete rates of return, in businesses that can exert a positive influence on social or environmental problems.*Socially Responsible Investment (SRI): a financial activity that invests in companies using not only their financial performance but also various social achievements — such as human rights, the environment, labor, and community contribution — as a yardstick."Impact Future," for the Sustainability of ESG StartupsThe donation fund "Impact Future," which KSI unveiled in February this year, began from a question like "What would 'impact investing' based on donation funds look like?" The main financial resource of Impact Future — which drives the sustainability of a future society by considering both the economic and the social aspects — is corporate donations. When investment capital is gathered through donations from various companies that are interested in or agree with the investment targets and fields KSI focuses on, investment is made in domestic startups and global impact companies after evaluating their impact-creation and social-problem-solving capacity, business sustainability, and more.That KSI could carry out impact investing at scale in earnest owes much to the "Hana ESG Double Impact Matching Fund," one of Hana Financial Group's ESG projects, in 2022. The Hana ESG Double Impact Matching Fund is operated with Hana Financial Group's donations, and it invests in 10 or more ESG startups each year, drawing out the business scale-up of companies and the spread of social impact. KSI CEO Lee Soon-yeol (hereafter CEO Lee) emphasized the role of donations, saying, "The most important thing when actually doing impact investing is to properly fulfill the role of capital," and, "In a situation where you must not only wait a long time after investing in a target company until full-fledged commercialization takes place, but where the possibility of an exit is also not high, donations must play the role of patient capital."[KSI CEO Lee Soon-yeol explaining Impact Future © Korea Social Investment]And as important as the "initial investment" that serves as the priming water for a company's commercialization is "follow-on investment." CEO Lee says, "Because the donation becomes first-loss capital, it can lower the investment risk and play the role of catalytic capital so that other for-profit capital can come in." In other words, once a company receives investment through Impact Future, it has been "verified" within the investment market as one that KSI has already invested in, making it easier to draw follow-on investment from other investment firms. In fact, when impact investing was carried out, the investment results also proved high. Korea Social Investment executed investments totaling 2.9 billion won in 24 startups in 2022, and totaling 2.7 billion won in 15 startups in 2023. To date, Korea Social Investment has executed investments in 53 startups, and two of them are already preparing for an IPO.*Exit: refers to an exit strategy after investment — a way for the investor to recover funds.The Virtuous Cycle of Investment to Be Achieved Through Impact FutureThere are for-profit and nonprofit institutions in impact investing too. One of the most important criteria is "who takes the returns when an investment profit is made." So then, who takes the investment profit generated at a company that received investment through Impact Future? The recovered investment profit becomes a business resource for Impact Future and a donation for yet another impact company, playing the role of patient capital and catalytic capital. Usually, even with impact investing, if the investment is made through a for-profit investor, the owner or shareholders take the investment profit as dividends; but in the case of a nonprofit organization, because there is no owner, when profit arises it does not end up as a specific person's profit. Therefore it can be reinvested, and the "virtuous cycle of finance" — most important in impact investing — can also be realized. It is a structure in which, as a company's business is run sustainably, social value is also continuously created, and those results return to the donor so that investment can continue — a structure where company and company can each win (win-win).[(From left) Lee Soon-yeol, CEO of Korea Social Investment; Jang Hee-jin, Deputy General Manager of Hana Financial Group's ESG Planning Team; Jeong Ho-yoon, Head of Management Innovation at World Vision; Kim Kyung-ha, Editor-in-Chief of The Better Future; Lee Ji-hwan, Professor of Management Engineering at KAIST; Lee Hye-mi, Director of Korea Social Investment © Korea Social Investment]At the seminar that day, a panel discussion under the theme "The Meaning and Achievements of Nonprofit Impact Investing" was also held so that participants could gain insight related to nonprofit impact investing. Asked what the achievements would be of using impact through corporate donations and of operating a donation fund through social contribution or ESG activities, Lee Ji-hwan, a professor of management engineering at KAIST who participated in the panel discussion, emphasized the value that the expanded reproduction of impact investing through donation provides. "As part of impact investing, by donating to sustainable businesses, they can run self-sustainingly without an organization, and there is ample room to use this to draw a new S-curve (growth curve) in an existing business." He also explained that corporate participation is important, saying, "If large corporations actively step up to operate donation funds, the effect spreading across society as a whole will of course occur greatly," and, "Ultimately, we will be able to achieve a greater effect in solving the social problems we seek to solve."Social problems are becoming more advanced by the day. As the saying goes, "Let companies solve social problems. The answer is in companies," to solve social problems more surely, we cannot but call for companies' interest and active movement. KSI's Impact Future will become a novel and meaningful investment model in social and environmental terms. We look forward to the expansion of ESG investment through donation funds bringing a greater impact to our society.by Editor L
CO₂ Reduction: A New Solution Is Demanded to Confront the Climate CrisisAt this very moment, in places all over the world, large amounts of carbon dioxide are being emitted through industrial activity, deforestation, agriculture, and more. The carbon-dioxide emissions we have traded for our convenience are continuously increasing. Carbon-reduction efforts at the previous level alone have limits in curbing rapid climate change. Against the backdrop of this reality, the technology of Climeworks (hereafter "Climeworks"), which can directly capture carbon dioxide from the air and store or recycle it, began to draw attention. The technology called "Direct Air Capture (DAC)" presents a way to solve the otherwise-unmanageable problem of carbon-dioxide emissions by directly capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing or recycling it. The direct-air-capture technology led by Climeworks, founded in 2009, is an innovative approach that not only supplements existing carbon-reduction efforts but can also manage even unavoidable emissions.[Climeworks' two founders © Bloomberg]The Principle of Direct Air CaptureLet us look at Climeworks' direct-air-capture technology. First, a huge fan is turned to draw air into the system, and then a specially made filter is used to selectively capture only the carbon dioxide. The captured carbon dioxide is heated at high temperature and refined into pure carbon dioxide, which can then be recycled right away, or stored and used later for other purposes. Projects using direct-air-capture technology are under way at 15 sites around the world, and are known to be successfully capturing more than 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.Among these, "Orca," which Climeworks operates in Iceland, is currently the largest direct-air-capture facility in the world. The carbon dioxide captured at this facility is stored in underground basalt layers at a depth of 800–2,000 meters, where it naturally forms carbonate rock. The period needed for this process is about two years, which is more efficient than other carbon-dioxide capture methods, and it is drawing attention for being environmentally sustainable. Another direct-air-capture facility operating in Switzerland captures 900 tons of carbon dioxide each year and supplies it to a local greenhouse. This greenhouse uses the captured carbon dioxide to boost the photosynthesis of greenhouse crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, and as a result increases yield, thereby also improving the sustainability of agriculture.The carbon dioxide produced and managed through direct air capture is used as the carbonation source for carbonated drinks, or is converted into an intermediate needed for renewable-energy production. With such highly versatile direct-air-capture technology, Climeworks aims to capture a certain proportion of the world's carbon-dioxide emissions. Experts forecast that applying direct-air-capture technology in industries where carbon emissions are unavoidable can contribute to achieving climate-change-related goals. In addition, Climeworks continues to explore technologies that can improve economic efficiency and become part of a sustainable climate-response strategy. This is because, like every innovative technology company, Climeworks too seeks to solve the problems of cost and efficiency. It may not be a perfect technology, but the success cases already created have drawn investment from technology companies such as Bill Gates's Microsoft, Jeff Bezos's Amazon, and Elon Musk's Tesla.["Orca," which Climeworks operates in Iceland © Climeworks]The Future of Direct-Air-Capture Technology and a Sustainable OutlookThe direct-air-capture technology Climeworks holds is known as an effective countermeasure that can confront climate change, one of the most urgent problems of our time. As a developing technology it invites various viewpoints, but this technology shows the potential of a means that can manage the Earth's carbon-dioxide concentration.The results achieved at large facilities such as "Orca" have proven that direct-air-capture technology can offer environmental and economic benefits beyond mere theoretical possibility. It is a technology that not only increases crop yields in agriculture but can also be used in the carbonated drinks we consume. According to a January 2023 report, direct-air-capture technology received official certification for its carbon-removal technology and process from DNV, an international specialized certification body. In response, Climeworks CEO Christoph Gebald explained that "(third-party certification) is proof that we are doing the right thing in the right way." With expectations for the formation of a carbon-removal credit market to be created with carbon-removal technology, the multinational e-commerce company Shopify purchased 5,000 tons of credits through a multi-year contract with Climeworks. We look forward to substantive results following, as much as the market's expectations and investment.["Mammoth," a facility Climeworks is building in Iceland on a scale larger than Orca © Climeworks]by Editor L[Climate-Tech Brands and ESG] When talking about the Earth's future, one cannot skip "climate change." Until a few years ago we used the term "climate change," but amid concerns that it lacked a sense of crisis, we now use the word "climate crisis." Since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, more practical concepts and goals such as 1.5°C and carbon-footprint management have been emphasized, and various stakeholders — each country's government, companies, non-governmental organizations, academia, and more — are seeking measures to respond to climate change. In this process, climate tech is playing an important role. Climate tech is a concept encompassing all strategic approaches to create a sustainable environment through technological innovation and to confront climate change and its aftermath. Climate-tech companies provide products and services through the development of technologies that will help respond to the climate crisis — renewable energy, increased energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage technology, eco-friendly building materials, sustainable agriculture, carbon-footprint reduction solutions, and more. ESG.ONL, today's magazine for tomorrow, seeks to introduce leading climate-tech brands through the "Climate Companion (Gihu Donghaeng)" series.
Only Happy Employees Can Provide Happy ServiceFrom back when it was a small coffee company with only four stores, Starbucks has carried out value-centered management based on a corporate philosophy that puts people first. Starbucks' own value-centered management can be said to have begun with and been built by former CEO Howard Schultz, called the father of Starbucks. In "Pour Your Heart into It," a book he published in 1999 — the year Starbucks first entered Korea — he said that employees come first, customers second. Howard Schultz believed that happy employees provide excellent service and create happy customers. Accordingly, during his time as CEO he always called employees "partners," and under the belief that the company's profits should be shared together, he provided a stock option called "Bean Stock" to all employees, including part-timers.[Howard Schultz, Starbucks Chairman Emeritus © AFP/Yonhap News]Managing risk from a social and ethical perspective is also one condition of good governance. Remembering his difficult childhood, Howard Schultz provided health-insurance benefits to all employees including contract workers, and this was firmly maintained even amid the crisis around the 2008 economic crisis, when Starbucks' stock price fell 42% and it closed 7,100 stores across the US. He also raised his voice to reduce wage gaps by race and gender. In particular, he showed a favorable attitude toward the poor and refugees. In 2011 he opened a "Community Store" in New York's Harlem, notorious as a high-crime area, hiring Harlem residents to create jobs and investing part of the profits in the local community. In 2017 he announced that Starbucks would hire 10,000 refugees over five years, thereby also standing against former President Donald Trump's anti-refugee policy.In 2024, Starbucks announced a new store-design direction for the convenience of employees and customers with disabilities. Starbucks has, all along, made store accessibility and inclusivity core elements of the consumer experience. The core of this announcement is that it will apply to offline store spaces this value that it had also shared on its online channel, the mobile application. The new design plan, called the "Inclusive Spaces Framework," was first applied at a new Starbucks store located in Washington, and Starbucks said it plans to apply it to about 4% of the 16,000 stores located in North America going forward.Greener "People" and "Places"[A Starbucks Greener Store in Shanghai, China © Starbucks]Beyond the social and ethical perspective, managing risk in environmental terms is also a condition of good governance. In 2018, Starbucks, together with the "World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)," announced a plan to create 10,000 "Greener Stores"* by 2025, and to date has opened more than about 6,000 stores in 44 countries worldwide. A Greener Store is designed to use 30% less energy than existing stores, and the amount of energy saved this way is equivalent to the annual electricity use of more than 30,000 households. It also reduces water use by more than 30% each year, contributing to the company's sustainability goal of cutting carbon emissions, water use, and landfill waste by nearly 50% by 2030. As we are well aware, the coffee beans used at Starbucks have their origin and entire distribution process disclosed through a program called "Bean to Cup."** The realization of the fair-trade value implemented through this leads to consumer trust.In 2018, Starbucks' headquarters announced that it would "phase out the use of single-use plastic straws at 28,000 stores worldwide," and Starbucks Korea is currently pursuing an eco-friendly campaign under the slogan "Greener Starbucks Korea — A Promise for the One and Only Earth." Through introducing paper straws, using eco-friendly packaging materials, and making natural fertilizer by recycling coffee grounds, its goal is to reduce carbon emissions by 30% going forward. It is also spurring product development for coexistence and shared growth with local regions. Starting with the Mungyeong Omija Fizzio in 2016, it has steadily developed and released beverages using Korean agricultural products — such as the Icheon New-Harvest Rice Latte and the Goheung Yuja Fizzio — and plans to expand these to as many as 10 kinds by 2025.*Greener Store: a store that directly practices eco-friendly activities to reduce waste, energy, and water use in order to realize a sustainable future. To receive Starbucks' Greener Store certification, a store must meet 25 essential criteria across 8 environmental areas developed through a partnership between the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and SCS Global Services, and must be certified by an external auditing body.**Bean to Cup: a program that lets you scan the QR code attached to the coffee-bean packaging with a smartphone to check the bean's growing region and place of production, how Starbucks supports the farmers of that region, and more. Beyond the origin, it also provides detailed information such as the farm and farmer, the coffee's roasting time, and tasting notes.The presence of the brand Starbucks has long surpassed the level of a company that merely sells coffee. Like the taste and aroma of coffee, which has settled unchanged over a long time as an essential beverage in our lives, let us look forward to Starbucks' own sincere ESG management taking root naturally in our lives.by Editor LKorea translates the G (Governance) of ESG as "control structure (jibae gujo)" and uses it that way. But if we translate "control structure" back into English, it is not governance. "Control structure" literally means a company's "decision-making and profit-distribution structure" itself. The globally accepted meaning of governance is closer to the conduct and processes of the people who lead a company. ESG.ONL's "In Search of Governance" series introduces cases of domestic and overseas companies with good governance, for a more accurate understanding and use of governance.
Agriculture: Facing the Demand of the TimesAmid climate change, the problem of food shortage is rising. According to statistics, by 2050 the world's population will reach 9.7 billion. This means that a greater food supply than now will be needed. Along with the gradual increase of the world's population, agricultural systems are under pressure to produce more food than ever. Sustainable agriculture is a strong demand of the times, and building a sustainable food-production system is also an important matter at the level of global food-security concerns. Pivot Bio (hereafter "Pivot Bio") is a climate-tech brand that builds a sustainable food system with new agricultural technology harnessing the power of nature, contributing to sustainable development.["Pivot Bio," located in Berkeley, California © Pivot Bio]Innovation in Agricultural Technology Achieved Through Microbes and New TechnologyUnlike existing farming methods, Pivot Bio is a climate-tech brand that reduces the use of chemical fertilizers and utilizes microbial technology. They developed an innovative technology that uses certain types of microbes to help plants absorb nitrogen directly from the air, greatly reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers. With this technology, crop growth can be promoted while the negative impact on the environment is minimized. The microbe-enhancement technology Pivot Bio developed is proving its effectiveness through collaboration with actual farms. A corn farm in Michigan that used Pivot Bio's product reduced synthetic-fertilizer use by 30% and increased yield by 10%. A California grape farm also achieved quality improvement while reducing synthetic-fertilizer use by 20%.[This product, called Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40, uses microbes that absorb nitrogen from the air to produce the ammonia plants need to grow and thrive, helping to supply plants throughout their most important growth stages © Pivot Bio]The second technology Pivot Bio unveiled is a data-based customized farm-management solution. Using big data and artificial intelligence, it analyzes each farm's soil characteristics, climate conditions, crop types, and more, to provide a farming solution tailored to the farm. An Iowa soybean farm used Pivot Bio's technology to reduce water use by 15% and cut the incidence of pests and disease by 10%, and a Nebraska wheat farm reduced carbon emissions by 20% while improving soil health.In addition, Pivot Bio produces sustainable products that use materials extracted from nature rather than chemicals harmful to the environment. It is also contributing to environmental protection and preventing soil pollution through the development of biodegradable bio-fertilizers that decompose naturally in the soil. It is also increasing the proportion of renewable energy used in the product-production process. These innovations of Pivot Bio are expected to play an important role in climate-crisis-response issues related to agriculture — a primary industry with a complexly intertwined value chain.Pivot Bio's Approach to a Global Problem[Using a "Pivot Bio" product © Pivot Bio]Pivot Bio contributes to a sustainable food-production system with agricultural technology that harnesses the power of nature. As a result, in 2021 it succeeded in attracting a $500 million Series E investment. As continuous R&D investment and success cases have come to light, thousands of farms across the US currently use their technology. Farms using Pivot Bio's technology saw productivity increase by an average of 15% and synthetic-fertilizer use decrease by an average of 20%, confirming the effect of strengthening the economic stability of farming communities. Food-production methods applying Pivot Bio's technology are improving not only the environment but also the health of agricultural society.Agriculture is the most basic industry, directly linked to humanity's survival. We gain energy through the food we consume every day, and we are active. The same is true of all economic activity. Today, as it is confirmed that agriculture, beyond a simple food-production function, is the foundation of global environmental protection and socioeconomic stability, practicing sustainable agriculture is no longer a choice but an essential task. Now, when companies like Pivot Bio are changing the paradigm of agriculture with new technology, let us watch how such changes in production technology will contribute to the global climate-crisis response and to strengthening food security.by Editor L[Climate-Tech Brands and ESG] When talking about the Earth's future, one cannot skip "climate change." Until a few years ago we used the term "climate change," but amid concerns that it lacked a sense of crisis, we now use the word "climate crisis." Since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, more practical concepts and goals such as 1.5°C and carbon-footprint management have been emphasized, and various stakeholders — each country's government, companies, non-governmental organizations, academia, and more — are seeking measures to respond to climate change. In this process, climate tech is playing an important role. Climate tech is a concept encompassing all strategic approaches to create a sustainable environment through technological innovation and to confront climate change and its aftermath. Climate-tech companies provide products and services through the development of technologies that will help respond to the climate crisis — renewable energy, increased energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage technology, eco-friendly building materials, sustainable agriculture, carbon-footprint reduction solutions, and more. ESG.ONL, today's magazine for tomorrow, seeks to introduce leading climate-tech brands through the "Climate Companion (Gihu Donghaeng)" series.
The Endless Loop of Energy Use and the Climate CrisisWe stand at the intersection of unprecedented challenge and change. At its center exists an uncomfortable but undeniable, powerful link: "energy and the climate crisis." Through this link, we can clearly see how the supply, demand, and use of the energy we consume in daily life are connected to the Earth's future. Our energy system still depends heavily on fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas is a major cause of greenhouse-gas emissions, and even though we know this brings global warming and extreme weather anomalies, converting to alternatives is not easy. Weather anomalies — droughts, torrential rains, typhoons — are directly affecting our lives. Converting the way we use energy in a sustainable direction is clearly an essential measure for responding to the climate crisis.But the energy transition is bound up in a very complexly intertwined value system. The use of sustainable energy is a concept that cannot but be considered in various directions — economic, social, technological, and more. This complexity is making the process of finding solutions to the climate crisis exhausting and difficult. Meanwhile, the climate crisis has become reality. Helion Energy's (hereafter "Helion Energy") approach to solving this situation is worthy of attention. With the potential to provide sustainable and nearly limitless energy through nuclear-fusion technology, Helion Energy presents an innovative solution to the existing energy problem.[Helion Energy's fusion technology © Helion Energy]Helion Energy: Can Practical Nuclear Fusion Become a Stable Energy Source?Helion Energy developed a compact fusion reactor, raising to a practical level the nuclear-fusion technology that has, until now, struggled to be commercialized because of size and cost. The reactor they developed is designed with a simple design so that it can reach commercial energy production within a short time. With technology that stably maintains and controls the fusion reaction in the reactor, Helion Energy becomes able to use the energy generated in this process. Technically, this energy emits no greenhouse gases and minimizes the nuclear-waste problem as well. In this way, Helion Energy seeks to create a sustainable and stable energy source.*Plasma state: when gas is heated to an ultra-high temperature, atomic nuclei and electrons separate so that positive ions and electrons exist in nearly equal amounts, resulting in an electrically neutral state.With this technology, which is expected to be used in various fields — power generation as well as industrial heat supply, and even energy supply in the aerospace field — Helion Energy announced a notable achievement in 2023. It signed an innovative contract to supply Microsoft with electricity produced at its first fusion power plant. This power plant aims to begin operation by 2028, and is set to produce more than 50 MW (an amount of power that can meet the electricity demand of about 70,000 households). An important milestone in the field of commercially executed fusion-energy generation has been created. Microsoft, too, chose an important strategy for achieving the carbon-negative goal it presented for 2030.[An experimental machine that produces electricity directly through faster-speed reactions, using strengthened magnets to improve fusion conditions © Helion Energy]The Attention Gathering Around Helion Energy in 2024The prototype of the seventh reactor Helion Energy is currently developing is set to demonstrate electricity-production capability within 2024. The new model, which will show Helion Energy's continuous progress, is expected to go beyond the achievement of the sixth prototype — which drew attention by succeeding in practical fusion-energy generation, including successfully reaching a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees — and to create an important turning point in energy production.Nuclear power, once remembered as a weapon of war, is being used as a weapon to end the climate crisis. In this age accustomed to fossil fuels, it is presenting an innovative solution and preparing to take the stage as a new energy supplier. Will Helion Energy's seventh prototype in 2024 usher in the age of pure electricity? Let us watch with interest in climate-change response and clean-energy production.by Editor L[Climate-Tech Brands and ESG] When talking about the Earth's future, one cannot skip "climate change." Until a few years ago we used the term "climate change," but amid concerns that it lacked a sense of crisis, we now use the word "climate crisis." Since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, more practical concepts and goals such as 1.5°C and carbon-footprint management have been emphasized, and various stakeholders — each country's government, companies, non-governmental organizations, academia, and more — are seeking measures to respond to climate change. In this process, climate tech is playing an important role. Climate tech is a concept encompassing all strategic approaches to create a sustainable environment through technological innovation and to confront climate change and its aftermath. Climate-tech companies provide products and services through the development of technologies that will help respond to the climate crisis — renewable energy, increased energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage technology, eco-friendly building materials, sustainable agriculture, carbon-footprint reduction solutions, and more. ESG.ONL, today's magazine for tomorrow, seeks to introduce leading climate-tech brands through the "Climate Companion (Gihu Donghaeng)" series.