Seoul, December 17, 2020 – The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), a global initiative of banks and investors to standardize the measurement and reporting of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, announced today a partnership with the Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (KoSIF). KoSIF is a non-profit organization that endeavors to contribute to the construction of sustainable society by promoting Socially Responsible Investment practices in Korea since establishment in 2007.
The partnership aims to support financial institutions in South Korea to measure and disclose the financed emissions of their portfolios, taking climate change into account.
The PCAF was launched in Europe in 2015 and globally in 2019. With already 90 banks and investors from five continents, PCAF’s member financial institutions represent almost $19 trillion (USD) in assets. The group is rapidly expanding across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Recently, the largest bank in South Korea Shinhan Financial Group has joined PCAF committing to measuring and disclosing the financed emissions in their portfolios.
The recent declaration by the Republic of Korea of its carbon neutrality goals coupled with the disclosure by the Korean National Assembly on the "Green Finance Act" now creates even greater impetus for Korean financial institutions to apply standardized GHG accounting approaches. The "Green Finance Act" intends to integrate most of the international best practices in sustainable finance, including adoption of the mandatory climate-related information disclosure by financial institutions in compliance with the TCFD recommendations. PCAF’s Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard provides methods for financial institutions to measure the emissions in their portfolios with a consistent and harmonized approach. This makes PCAF increasingly relevant for the Korean financial sector as it feeds into and aligns with the work of other climate initiatives, such as the financial sector disclosures of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
The PCAF-KoSIF coalition is set to build capacities on PCAF standard implementation for the measurement of financed emissions in a Korean context. The partners will focus on the interactive exchange of experiences among practitioners (peer learning). PCAF and KoSIF will jointly support the uptake of the Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard in the Korean financial market which contributes to the establishment of a long-term sustainable financial eco-system in line with the Paris Agreement.
“KoSIF is proud to be partnering with PCAF, whereby will be able to better contribute for the greening of the Korean financial market and the earlier achievement of Paris Agreement Goal. The introduction of Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard into the Korean market will help Korean FIs and industries to take into consideration the climate-related factors in monetary value in their decision making.”
Karl Chun Seung Yang, Executive Director, KoSIF
The Korea Sustainability Investing Forum was formed in 2007 as a not-for-profit organization focuses on the promotion and dissemination of ‘Socially Responsible Investment’ in the country. KoSIF actively encourages investors, companies, and the society to pursue not only economic values, but also environmental, social and governance values. To this end, KoSIF is actively supporting the establishment of international standards such as UN PRI (principles for Responsible Investment) in Korea’s financial sector. KoSIF is a member organization of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA). For more information, visit: http://www.kosif.org/main/
The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), launched in 2019, currently consists of 88 banks and investors that have subscribed to the PCAF initiative. PCAF participants work together to jointly develop a global Standard for the financial industry to measure and disclose the greenhouse emissions of their loans and investments. By doing so, PCAF participants take the first step required to assess climate-related risks, set targets in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and develop effective strategies to decarbonize our society. For more information, visit: https://carbonaccountingfinancials.com/
