SK Group establishes center to certify carbon-neutral projects

South Korean conglomerate SK Group has established an in-house certification body to review and verify its subsidiaries’ programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The SK Carbon Certification Center, which is under the auspices of the group’s top decision-making body, the Supex Council, will ensure the implementation of the “SK Carbon Standard,” the group’s own set of principles and guidelines to realize its net zero vision by 2050.

To boost the center’s credibility, as well as maintain its objectivity, 50% of the SK Carbon Center’s board consists of outside experts. A third-party panel has been tasked with reviewing all certifications to be issued by the center.

The first batch of projects to be reviewed by the center includes products such as SK Innovation’s electric vehicle batteries, SK Lubricants’ eco-friendly lubricant products and SK Hynix’s low-power semiconductors. Around 10 such projects at SK subsidiaries will be examined.

The center was modeled after the United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism, as well as Verra, or the Verified Carbon Standard, the world’s most widely used voluntary program for the certification of emissions-reduction projects.