● SK Chemical’s Globally-Recognized ‘Sustainable Management’
- Awarded KMA Global Standard’s Grand Prize in ‘Sustainable Management Report’ Category
- Included in Dow-Jones Sustainability Indices for Fifth Straight Year
SK Chemical’s sustainable management is earning praise from around the globe.
On the 22nd, SK Chemical proudly announced that it had been awarded the grand prize in the ‘Sustainable Management Report’ category at the 13th annual Global Standard Management Award Ceremony hosted by the Korea Management Association and Korea Management Association Registration.
The ceremony honors companies that have contributed to improved sustainable development and furthered the competitive edge in the global market while awarding those that have gone above and beyond in specific categories of management following a strict evaluation conducted by an expert panel over a three-month course.
Superior evaluation marks earned SK Chemical the Grand Prize in the ‘Sustainable Management Report’ category. This multi-faceted report concentrates primarily on the handling of economical, social and environmental issues while letting stakeholders in on the gains that contribute to the company’s sustainable growth, in addition to providing a direction for the future. The increasing global interest in a greater level of operation transparency and creating community-based values are bolstering the growing need for the report.
The published sustainable management report of SK Chemical has received remarkable praise for its systematic layout that reflects the interests and needs of all stakeholders and management activities from the ‘blueprint’ stage to content development.
The report was constructed by first formulating a production task force team over the course of six months before performing a preliminary consensus centrally focalizing on the customer and shareholder base along with employees and communities outside the capital. The ultimate focus of the report is to analyze and classify data for use by vested stakeholders.
The Korea Management Association provided the following evaluation saying, “Rather than simply being an underscore of plusses earned, the report communicated a sense of authenticity in the sorting and classification of valuable data for corresponding entities.”
Consequently, SK Chemical was the first domestic-based conglomerate to earn the ‘GRI Materiality Matters Check’ following official verification from the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), an international organization setting the global standard for sustainable management.
☞ Note: Understanding the GRI Materiality Matters Check.
It is a mark symbolizing that a report is in compliance with the ‘G4 Guidelines,’ the latest in sustainable management report guidelines released last year.
Functioning as a composition manual of the sustainable management report released in May 2013 by the GRI, the G4 Guidelines are centered on the ‘Materiality Matters Check,’ which deals with issues on sustainable management and exceeds the depth of a general, formal business report.
The GRI was founded by the United Nations Environment Program and the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies that put forth these guidelines for creating corporate sustainable management reports. Among 250 corporations around the world, 82% are said to implement these guidelines, yet only a mere 52 operations have earned the GRI Check.
☞ Note: Understanding the Materiality Matters Check.
The Materiality Matters Check specifically pinpoints the most pressing issues in sustainable management by way of involvement and communication with stakeholders. Sustainable management reports failing to be in line with these procedures typically communicate data merely showcasing the gains of the corresponding organization, while reports faithful to the MMC display unbiased data essential to interested parties.
Prior to earning the GRI Materiality Matters Check, this past 16th saw SK Chemical included in the DJSI (Dow Jones Sustainability Indices) Korea for its fifth consecutive year following the DJSI Assessment.
DJSI is the global standard for investment and sustainable management assessment comprehensively evaluating not only the economic yield of businesses but operations from an environmental and social standpoint as well. DJSI Korea was co-developed with the S&P Dow Jones Index, sponsor of the Korea Productivity Center and the International Financial Center, and RobecoSAM, an organization for global sustainable management assessment and specialized investment.
In response to the recent unwavering success in sustainable management, SK Chemical explained that it was their sheer effort toward assuming social responsibility for sound and sustainable management practices that earned them this global recognition.
The establishment of the ‘Green Triple 40,’ which targets 40 hours of community volunteering per person, 40% reduction in carbon dioxide and 40% of total profit from green business, stimulated the continued pursuit of grounded, environmentally conscious management operations.
SK Chemical’s sustainable management report found that green products saw a nearly 10% increase in sales from 17.6% in 2012 to 26.7% in 2013, while the rate of greenhouse gas emissions reduction improved from 11.9% to 13.2% and the rate of recycled material use reached as much as 55.9%.
In a statement from a company official, it was said, “There has been sustained popularization of green products such as green materials and bio-energy. We are minimizing carbon-dioxide emissions from the manufacturing process and adopting a number of other green management practices.”