[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] Pulmuone (CEO Lee Woo-bong) announced on the 13th that it was selected as a top 5 global food company for the second consecutive year in the 2024 Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA, formerly DJSI) announced by S&P Global, one of the world's top three credit rating agencies.

In this evaluation, Pulmuone once again proved its excellence in sustainable management by recording the highest ranking among domestic food companies and achieving 4th place among global food companies.

According to the S&P Yearbook, approximately 7,690 companies worldwide participated in this year's CSA evaluation, and 213 companies in the food products industry were evaluated.

S&P CSA is a globally recognized and credible indicator in the field of corporate sustainability evaluation and investment, evaluating non-financial performance related to sustainable growth of companies, such as environment, society, and governance. The evaluation results are used to create indices related to sustainability and ESG investment.

Pulmuone has achieved excellent results in all areas including economy, governance, environment, and society. It has proven its global level of sustainability by scoring high scores in non-financial issue management such as materiality assessment, strengthening energy and environment policies, and developing products that take health and nutrition into consideration.

Pulmuone selects and manages key ESG agendas through the ESG Committee under the Board of Directors and creates outstanding social and environmental values ​​by linking them to corporate management goals and executive compensation. This year, the company received positive reviews for upgrading its materiality assessment method to internally strengthen the management internalization of ESG issues.

In terms of board composition, Pulmuone has strengthened diversity and independence by having 8 out of 11 outside directors, and among them, 3 are female outside directors, showing the highest level of diversity in Korea. In addition, to strengthen responsible management, the company has introduced a senior outside director system and is realizing balanced management centered on the board of directors.

The senior outside director system is a system that appoints a senior outside director representing outside directors to ensure balance and checks when an inside director serves as the chairman of the board of directors. The senior outside director performs roles such as convening and presiding over the outside board of directors, and evaluating the functions and activities of the board of directors.

In the environmental sector, it received high marks for its continuous improvement in environmental policy and management, and energy items. Under the ‘Eco-Caring’ strategy, Pulmuone is leading the way in responding to the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis by promoting Net Zero (carbon neutrality) that reduces net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 and Nature Positive, which focuses on biodiversity conservation.

Pulmuone is working to establish a systematic environmental management system by revising the existing 'Environmental Safety and Health Policy' to the 'Pulmuone Environmental Management Policy'. Based on this, it operates an environmental management governance structure centered on the board of directors, reports environmental performance and goals every year, and deliberates and approves policies and strategies at the ESG Committee.

Pulmuone is actively pursuing energy reduction activities to achieve its Net Zero (carbon neutrality) goal. It has set energy consumption reduction targets for domestic food manufacturing sites by 2035 and is implementing energy management programs. It is applying the Energy Management System to manufacturing and logistics sites and strengthening sustainable management by utilizing eco-friendly energy such as solar power generation, geothermal heat pumps, and wood pellet boilers.

In order to achieve the Nature Positive goal, we are also taking the lead in protecting biodiversity. We have reestablished the 'Nature Positive' pledge in relation to biodiversity, established a step-by-step management system for protecting species in our business sites and surrounding areas, announced policies, and are putting them into practice.

In the social sector, we are developing and marketing products that take into account the health and nutrition of consumers, and have received high evaluations in the 'health and nutrition' category. We are contributing to the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases by developing nutritionally balanced products that reduce sodium, sugar, and saturated fat intake and supplement vitamins and minerals, and we operate a dedicated health and nutrition research organization to support products and services to contain sustainable value. We are also working to spread information on proper eating habits through exchanges with academic societies and research activities.

In terms of human capital development, we are introducing and operating welfare systems for the work-life balance of employees, such as the introduction of a flexible work system and the operation of in-house daycare centers, and are also making efforts to foster talent, such as operating various educational programs to develop the capabilities of employees. In particular, we are helping to establish a digital-based work style by introducing the 'Digital Academy', a digital learning platform to strengthen the digital capabilities of employees.

Pulmuone’s Oh Kyung-seok, in charge of sustainable management, said, “Under the mission of ‘a company that creates a healthy tomorrow for people and the planet through the right food,’ we have been leading the way in ESG management and as a result, we were able to achieve global-level results in this CSA evaluation.” He added, “In the future, Pulmuone will continue to promote sustainable value across its business based on the values ​​of loving neighbors and respecting life, which are our founding spirits.”