Coway Co., Ltd. (Coway) announced the establishment of its ESG committee under its board of directors. Coway is a Korea-based industrial company that makes home appliances such as water purifiers, air purifiers, bidets, and mattresses.
Among the responsibilities of the ESG committee will be supervising ESG policies. The committee will also provide accountability to board members on carrying out strategic ESG initiatives. Additionally, the ESG committee will be the head decision-making panel on ESG managerial policies, long-term sustainability goals, and responding to major risks and opportunities.
The committee consists of Jangwon Seo, the co-CEO of Coway, and two independent directors, Jin-Bae Kim and Da-Woo Lee. Jin-Bae Kim will also chair the committee to ensure impartiality. To support the ESG committee, Coway has also formed an ESG council, which includes the environmental, human resources, ethics, R&D (research and development), and legal affairs departments.
Coway’s Continued ESG Initiatives And Its Annual Sustainability Report
Even before establishing the ESG committee, Coway made significant efforts to be sustainable. In 2006, the company declared the goal of operating on 100% renewable energy and being fully carbon-neutral by 2050, plus reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. The company has also held numerous projects committed to corporate social responsibility. Since 2015, through the ‘Good Water Purifier Project’ and ‘Safe Groundwater Water Welfare Project,’ Coway has been donating water purifiers to give more people safe access to water.
The company recently published its 2020 Sustainability Report to communicate its ESG performance with all stakeholders. This report has been released annually since 2006 to provide transparency on the ESG progress.
Coway’s devotion toward ESG has been recognized by industry names, both domestically and internationally. In 2020, Coway was named on the 2020 DJSI World Index (Dow Jones Sustainability World Index) for the fifth consecutive year. The Korea Corporate Governance Service (KCGS) has awarded the company an “A” ESG Rating for two successive years, while the MSCI ESG ratings gave an “AA” score. In addition to all these merits, Coway is also named in the FTSE4 Good Index Series.
“We plan to integrate ESG initiatives across all corporate operations, and the ESG committee will facilitate this at every level,” said a Coway company official. “As the Best Life Solution Company, Coway will continue to carry out ESG initiatives to meet stakeholder expectations and reach global sustainability standards.”
