K-water Dictionary : Water, Nature and Humankind

K-water Dictionary
K-water’s ESG leadership
ESG management is coming to the fore due to climate change.
Against this backdrop, K-water is taking proactive steps as a leader
in ESG management to enhance the value of water.
Here are some of the key words representing
K-water’s leadership in water-specific ESG management.
Written by Choi Haeng-jwa Illustrated by Ha Go-Go Source K-water

ESG 3.0

ESG 3.0 means that the top management and the board of directors are held directly responsible for ESG issues, and the CEO and the chairman of the board are all well aware and knowledgeable of ESG. The company makes ESG-related disclosures in a transparent and sincere manner, internalizing ESG throughout its businesses. It also develops its own solutions and models and implements them. In a nutshell, the company has genuine interest in and commitment to ESG. K-water is currently taking challenging and ambitious follow-up actions to move up to ESG 3.0.

ESG Principles

E means seeking to create sustainable coexistence and S means creating common goodness via co-dependence with G, which refers to a transparent decision-making process based on communication. K-water has incorporated the principles of ESG management into its companywide long-term strategy system and adopted the ‘water-energy-city and ESG’ nexus as its management direction.

Water Industry Investors Council

The Water Industry Investors Council was established on April 22 to foster the water industry and promote the investment ecosystem. The council consists of a total of 12 organizations including K-water, Korea Venture Investment Corp., and D3 Jubilee Partners. They support communication between corporations and investors by sharing information on promising companies in the water industry and training professional investment examiners and carry out various cooperation projects aimed at improving investor access to the water industry.

ESG Management Committee

The committee reviews major ESG-related business strategies, implementation plans, progress, and performance. It was set up within the board of directors, the top decision-making body, last August. The committee is made up of up to nine members including non-standing directors and a planning director.

ESG Bonds

ESG bonds refer to bonds invested exclusively in ESG, and there are three types according to purpose: green bonds, social bonds, and sustainable bonds. K-water became the first public corporation in Category 1 to issue green bonds on March 12, demonstrating its commitment to the green transition through environmental improvement projects.