Press Releases

KoSIF and SDG Institute Sign MOU on Biodiversity

"Joint cooperation on raising awareness of biodiversity and natural capital, and establishing policy infrastructure"

The Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (Chairman Kim Young-ho) and the SDG Institute (CEO Choi Yong-geun) have agreed to cooperate to help revitalize biodiversity conservation activities and promote natural capital disclosure among Korean companies and financial institutions.

[Photo] (From left) Lee Jong-oh, CIO of Korea Sustainability Investing Forum; Kim Jong-dae, Director of SDG Institute; Karl Yang, CEO of Korea Sustainability Investing Forum; Choi Yong-geun, CEO of SDG Institute; Lee Ah-sun, Division Head at SDG Institute; Kim Tae-han, COO of Korea Sustainability Investing Forum.

As climate change worsens, both organizations noted that biodiversity and natural capital also present significant risks and opportunities for corporate management and financial institutions. Sharing a mutual understanding of the need to raise overall awareness and establish policy infrastructure to address these issues, they announced the signing of a joint cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Korea Sustainability Investing Forum on the 25th.

Founded in 2007, the Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (KoSIF) is Korea's first ESG and sustainable finance think tank. It serves as the Korean partner for major international initiatives such as CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials), RE100 (100% Renewable Electricity), EV100 (100% Electric Vehicles), and SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative). KoSIF is dedicated to building an ESG policy infrastructure, including acting as the co-secretariat for the National Assembly ESG Forum.

The SDG Institute is an organization whose main business areas are specialized consulting and education in the sustainability sector, built upon 15 years of know-how from operating the Inha University Sustainability Management Research Institute. It possesses particular expertise in biodiversity, having signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Institute of Ecology for sustainable natural capital management in February of this year.

Under this MOU, the two organizations plan to identify and execute joint tasks and projects for research and policy development related to biodiversity conservation and the promotion of natural capital disclosure by companies and financial institutions, based on their respective expertise. Furthermore, they intend to strive to spread awareness through various seminars and campaigns, and to collaborate and expand on these issues using each other's networks.

Karl Yang, CEO of the Korea Sustainability Investing Forum, stated, "As biodiversity emerges as a crucial factor in corporate value, recognizing that nature risks are synonymous with corporate and financial risks has led to increased interest and actual investment from financial institutions." He added, "We will contribute to building a policy infrastructure in particular so that Korean companies and financial institutions can effectively respond to these international trends."

Kim Jong-dae, Director of the SDG Institute, stated, "As a specialized institution focused on biodiversity and natural capital management and disclosure, we plan to cooperate with the Korea Sustainability Investing Forum in the future to evaluate companies' natural capital performance and risks, and to provide consulting services." (End)