KT&G (President Bok-in Baek) has published the ‘2020 KT&G Report’, which presents the results of the company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management and social contribution activities. 

In this report, KT&G disclosed its mid-to-long-term vision for ESG and its sustainability management strategy to achieve this vision. The company has defined 6 key ESG value creation areas linked with business and plans to enhance future growth potential by strengthening these areas. The 6 key areas are: ‘Strengthening the growth potential of businesses contributing to sustainability’, ‘Performance of environmental responsibility across the value chain’, ‘Responsible product development’, ‘Creating a sustainable industrial ecosystem’, ‘Strengthening human resource management and human rights protection’, and ‘Advancement of governance and strengthening of implementation capacity’.

To this end, KT&G has also established detailed mid- to long-term goals, going beyond mere commitments and striving to achieve concrete goals and bring about real changes. By 2025, the company will use packaging materials made from recyclable materials for 100% of its products as part of its step-by-step strategy for achieving environmental management goals such as ‘2050 carbon neutrality’, and it will conduct company-wide human rights impact assessment, not only in Korea but also in overseas subsidiaries. In addition, the scale of business-related social contribution projects conducted by the company has more than doubled compared to 2020.

In particular, this report quantifies and discloses performance in the area of sustainability management for the first time. This is a monetary unit of social value contribution, and the social/economic and environmental value created by KT&G in 2020 is estimated to be about 1.2 trillion won, exceeding last year's business revenue (net profit). In addition, to strengthen competitiveness in ESG management at the group level, the scope of information disclosure has been expanded to include subsidiary businesses, and the key ESG-related data of KGC Ginseng Corporation and Youngjin Pharm have also been disclosed.

In the ‘S-REPORT’, a separate report on social contribution activities, corporate social responsibility activities based on the company's promotion system of ‘Hope’, ‘Win-win’ and ‘Creativity’ have been included in detail. KT&G is operating 'Sangsang Madang' and 'Sangsang Univ' to deliver 'hope' to underprivileged classes through welfare and scholarship programs, and to enable artists and young people to unleash their creative imagination. The company is pursuing ‘win-win’ as a corporate citizen through such support projects as youth start-up projects, global CSR, and the Sangsang Fund. Last year, in particular, KT&G led the way in efforts to overcome the national disaster together by operating the ‘three-step contingency plan’ to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

KT&G has been publishing this report since 2007 to deliver information on its commitment to sustainable management as well as transparent and accurate ESG-related information to stakeholders in Korea and overseas. The ‘2020 KT&G Report’ was prepared in accordance with ‘GRI Standards’, the international sustainability reporting standards. Objectivity and reliability have been enhanced by reflecting recommendations from global organizations such as the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). 

Bok-in Baek, President and CEO of KT&G, said in a communique, “Environmental responsibility across the value chain and sustainable supply chain management are no longer the responsibilities of future generations, but are risks and opportunities for us.” He added, “We will lay the foundation for enhancing corporate value through the creation of business-related sustainable management values, and based on this, we will strengthen future business growth potential.”