NAVER Corporation became the first among Korea’s internet companies to join RE100, a global renewable energy initiative to accelerate change towards zero carbon electricity grids.
RE100 is a global initiative for businesses to convert 100% of their electricity sources to renewable energy, such as wind and solar. Joining RE100 is a significant step for NAVER as it shows greater commitment to be objectively recognized for its outstanding environmental management system through a global initiative, following its efforts back in 2020 to establish its own environmental management framework by announcing its ‘2040 Carbon Negative’ strategy.
NAVER plans to initiate its 2040 Carbon Negative roadmap, established in 2021, to achieve RE100. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from NAVER, which amount to 99%, are from energy used in NAVER’s office building and its IDC. By 2030, NAVER intends to convert 60% of all energy sources used in its office building and IDC to renewable energy sources and gradually achieve 100% renewable energy by 2040. To this end, NAVER aims to increase power purchases through agreements, such as PPA, and create action plans, such as building more renewable power plants in the office building and IDC and introducing energy efficiency technologies.
In addition to RE100, NAVER is planning to join various initiatives dedicated to the environment, a key segment of ESG. Towards the end of July last year, NAVER joined CDP , the world’s largest ESG rating agency with approximately 13,000 companies from 91 countries in participation that is recognized as the most credible among global ESG rating agencies. NAVER is also the first internet company in Korea to voluntarily manage its Scope 3 emissions, conducting third-party verification to ensure higher accuracy.
“NAVER is making plans to reduce carbon emissions, including Scope 3 emissions, as a way to reduce its impact on the environment, while at the same time continuing to join other key global eco-friendly initiatives, such as EV100,” said Lim Dong-a, the executive director of the environment program at NAVER. “We will establish ourselves as Korea’s prime tech company that operates its business in an environmentally friendly way, comparable to that of other global tech giants.”
