SK Chemicals Receives Top 'AAA' Rating in MSCI ESG Assessment

SK Chemicals company building exterior

SK Chemicals (CEO Ahn Jaehyun) announced on September 30th that it has received the highest rating of AAA in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assessment conducted by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).

AAA is the highest among the seven levels in the MSCI ESG rating system. SK Chemicals is the only domestic company within MSCI's Commodity & Diversified Chemicals industry group to receive an AAA rating.

The MSCI ESG assessment is a framework that compares and evaluates a company's ability to manage key risks and opportunities related to environment, society, and governance against global peers within the same industry. Major global institutional investors and asset management companies use this as a key indicator when analyzing a company's sustainability and investment risks.

The company attributed the AAA rating to its focus on advancing decarbonization programs, building an environmental management system, managing water stress, and operating a board-centered governance structure.

SK Chemicals is driving its transition to a decarbonized industry through a mid- to long-term carbon reduction roadmap, including expanding the adoption of renewable energy and converting to low-carbon fuels. The company has also established a process for regularly assessing environmental risks across all business sites based on the international environmental management system ISO 14001.

In the water resources sector, SK Chemicals analyzes water risk at its business sites and sets reduction targets for water usage. The company stated, "We are operating a board-centered governance structure to establish a transparent and responsible decision-making process, and we have continuously strengthened the board's expertise and independence."

CEO Ahn Jaehyun said, "ESG has become an essential competitive factor, not just for its declarative activities contributing to environment and society, but for assessing the impact of business activities on society as a whole and enhancing corporate credibility and transparency. We will proactively strengthen our management system to meet increasingly sophisticated evaluation criteria and expectations, and further enhance our ESG capabilities in environment, society, and governance going forward."

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