State-run startup agency to issue $74.5 mln green bonds for startup companies go carbon-neutral

By Kim Joo-heon Posted : November 18, 2022, 10:32 Updated : November 22, 2022, 10:45

[Courtesy of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency]

SEOUL -- Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), a state-funded startup-supporting agency, will issue green bonds worth 100 billion won ($74.5 million) to support small and medium-sized startup companies achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. Funds will be raised to help smart factories adopt new equipment and commercialize various types of green technology.  
 
Green bonds are intended to encourage sustainability and to support climate-related or other types of special environmental projects. South Korea, which had a renewable energy dependency rate of 4.8 percent in 2020, is trying to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
 
"We have issued green bonds for the first time to support small and medium startup companies' carbon neutrality projects despite difficult conditions at home and abroad due to the recent global monetary tightening and rises of interest rates," KOSME president Kim Hak-do said in a statement on November 18. The agency said a total of 18.7 trillion won worth of environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related social bonds were issued since 2019.
 
Various South Korean companies are pushing for ESG projects, a trendy corporate operation method that focuses on the use of green energy as well as reducing carbon emissions. In January 2022, South Korea's confectionary maker Orion launched an integrated web-based carbon emission management system to effectively manage the emission of greenhouse gases. The system will be used to manage data including the amount of greenhouse gases emitted at food factories. LG Electronics is currently building a 20,000-square-meter-wide solar power plant on the rooftop of its factory. 
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기