“Hyundai E&C receives the highest rating in Dow Jones Sustainability Management Index (DJSI) …Ranks No.1 in construction”

Hyundai E&C is maintaining its leading position in ESG management by being incorporated in the highest ranking DJSI World Index in the ‘2023 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI)*’ assessment that was announced by S&P Global on December 8th (Local time).

*DJSI: Dow Jones Sustainability Index is a sustainable index jointly developed by ‘Dow Jones’, the world’s biggest institution that provides financial information in US and ‘RobecoSAM’, an international investment company from Sweden, and it not only focuses on the economic performance of the company but also announces the result of environmental and social sustainability assessment every year.

In particular, Hyundai E&C ranked No. 1 among construction and engineering companies incorporated in DJSI World Index to prove its excellent performance in sustainable management such as setting a record for being the only Korean construction company to be ‘incorporated into DJSI World’ for 14 years in a row. 

‘DJSI World’ Index is granted to the top 10% of the companies among 2,500 global companies based on the global market capitalization upon evaluation of sustainable management for environment, social and governance. In this assessment, Hyundai E&C was recognized for its excellent performance including calculation of sustainable revenue based on EU Taxonomy*, SBTi* approval, evaluation of biodiversity risk and expansion of the welfare scheme for employees and executives. 

*EU Taxonomy: It is also called the ‘Green Taxonomy’, and it is a standard that informs of which energy source corresponds to eco-friendly and green business, and it is the ‘green classification system’ of European Union (EU). Investment is promoted by providing various financial and tax subsidies to energy businesses that are included in the taxonomy.

*SBTi: Science Based Target initiative is a global coalition that provides and verifies guidelines and methodologies for setting science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to take countermeasures against climate crisis and to meet the Paris Agreement goals.

On July, Hyundai E&C disclosed its green revenue (sustainable product) that is based on the EU Taxonomy standard for the first time as a Korean construction company together with a Korean-specific green classification system through ‘2023 Hyundai E&C Sustainable Management Report’. In truth, it is growing its eco-friendly business projects by achieving tangible performance in renewable energy and carbon neutrality areas such as offshore wind power, hydrogen plant, CCUS and biogas. Moreover, it also joined the ‘Leadership Group’ in the climate change segment of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Korea Award to maintain its Hall of Fame status for five consecutive years (2018~2022) while also maintaining its position in the ‘Platinum club’ for two years in a row. Hyundai E&C became the first listed Korean construction company to acquire SBTi approval in the third quarter of this year after declaring ‘2045 carbon neutrality’ to further build public trust on its global carbon neutrality target. 

Hyundai E&C is continuously endeavoring to strengthen its sustainable management capabilities by identifying and analyzing the improvement items of each department based on domestic and overseas ESG trend, risk and initiatives, and then, reporting them to the Transparent Management Committee (Board of Directors) through the operation of the Sustainable Management Coordination Group. Consequently, Hyundai E&C achieved an integrated A rating for 6 consecutive years (2018~2023) by steadily improving and managing sustainable management with results such as raising the rating for Social (S) category from A to A+ and the rating for Governance (G) category from B+ to A in ‘2023 KCGS ESG Evaluation’ announced by KCGS. 

Furthermore, Hyundai E&C also ranked No.1 among Korean construction companies in ‘Building Benchmark’ category of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA)* that evaluates the amount of carbon emitted in operating a building, low carbon conversion and so forth 

*WBA: World Benchmarking Alliance is the global non-profit organization that develops and evaluates international standards on sustainability, environment and human rights management based on the international human rights principles including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and OECD Multinational Enterprise Guidelines.

This year, in particular, the only installation vessel in Korea dedicated to offshore wind power that can lift, transport and install offshore wind power turbine, ‘Hyundai Frontier’, was applied to the construction of the Jeju-Hallym Offshore Wind Farm and East Sea Gas Field were used together with Korea National Oil Corporation to make an attempt to commercialize carbon capture and storage for the first time in Korea. In addition, Hyundai E&C solidified its basis to generate sustainable corporate value by expanding the design capability for the electrolysis-based hydrogen production base for the first time in Korea to widen its breadth of ESG management. Relevant personnel of Hyundai E&C said, “Hyundai E&C is driving sustainable growth and development by systematically setting and implementing targets as a global company that is leading in ESG management,” and added, “We will continue to create a sustainable future by diligently fulfilling our roles and responsibilities as a member of the international community”.