Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Lotte Chemical appears to have limited engagement on top-line messaging on climate policy and energy transition in 2023-2024. Lotte Chemical supports renewable energy policies in South Korea, but appears to take unsupportive positions in Korean Emissions Trading Scheme (K-ETS), suggesting higher allocations for chemical industry. CEO of Lotte Chemical and Chairman of Lotte Corporation, Shin Dong-bin, is the Vice President of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), which actively engages on climate policy with negative positions.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: InfluenceMap found limited evidence of top-line messaging on climate policy by Lotte Chemical in 2023-2024. In a September 2023 Business Post article, Lotte Chemical’s CEO supported circular economy to achieve net-zero emissions without clearly defined time-frame.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Lotte Chemical supports renewable energy policies in South Korea, but appears to take unsupportive positions in Korean Emissions Trading Scheme (K-ETS), suggesting higher allocations for chemical industry. In its 2023 CDP Climate Change response, Lotte Chemical appeared to support renewable energy policies, including green pricing system, third-party power purchase agreement (PPA), and renewable energy certificates (RECs), to promote RE100. However, in the same 2023 CDP Climate Change response, Lotte Chemical appeared to not support K-ETS, suggesting it results in increased energy prices and loss of competitiveness. In addition, the company appeared to suggest higher allocations for the chemical industry, a position which is misaligned with the Korean government’s ambition.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Lotte Chemical appears to have limited engagement on energy transition in 2023-2024. Lotte Chemical broadly supported decarbonizing the chemical sector and expanded role for hydrogen but with some ambiguities around its production method or intended use. In its 2023 CDP Climate Change response, Lotte Chemical appeared to support an increased use of bio feedstocks and other renewable feedstocks to replace fossil fuel feedstocks, stating the need to develop green technology to decarbonize the chemical sector. However, according to Business Post, at the ‘Petrochemical Industry Future Strategy Discussion’ held in August 2023, Lotte Chemical called for government support for "alternative energy sources", but did not clarify "alternative energy sources". In addition, in its 2023 ESG Report published in June 2024, Lotte Chemical supported expanded role for hydrogen in energy transition, without clarifying its production method or intended use.
Industry Association Governance: Lotte Chemical disclosed a partial list of its industry association memberships in its 2023 ESG Report. However, the company has not disclosed an account of its industry associations’ climate policy positions and engagement activities. CEO of Lotte Chemical and Chairman of Lotte Corporation, Shin Dong-bin, is the Vice President of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), which actively engages on climate policy with negative positions.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically.
This summary was last updated in Q4 2024.