SK to work with UAE sovereign wealth fund on climate change crisis

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Group has announced its cooperation with Mubadala, a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to overcome the climate change crisis.

To this end, SK signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mubadala at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi, UAE on the 15th (local time) on the establishment of Asia Partnership on "Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs)." SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, who serves as chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and CEO of Mubadala Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak signed the MOU on behalf of both sides.

A Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is a private-led carbon market that allows carbon emitters to trade carbon credits certified by private institutions.

The two companies have agreed to form a consultative body such as a steering committee or a working group and hammer out detailed cooperation plans to materialize the partnership in the future. As they believe that to boost voluntary carbon markets, measures to increase the reliability and transparency of certification methodologies for carbon reduction should be prepared first, they have decided to focus on this part.

In particular, they share the view that a carbon market tailored to the characteristics of Asian companies is necessary to facilitate their active participation. Accordingly, their future cooperation will go beyond cooperation between the two companies to look for common interests of diverse stakeholders so that more countries and private companies in the Asian region can follow their lead.

In June 2021, SK established a Carbon Reduction Certification Center that aims to evaluate and certify its carbon reduction methodologies and performance for the first time as a private company in Asia. By October of last year, it certified 16 methodologies and 740,000 tons of carbon reduction by SK affiliates, including low-power semiconductors and lubricants that improve vehicle fuel efficiency.

Meanwhile, Mubadala is a sovereign wealth fund worth $284 billion in assets of the UAE, the host country of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) and has invested in global eco-friendly fields and holds a stake in AirCarbon Exchange (ACX), an exchange established in 2019 to accelerate the efficiency of carbon trading.

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