Naver joins the RE100 initiative

Naver said on Monday that it signed up for the RE100 initiative, a global campaign to replace all electricity generated by fossil fuels with renewable energy by 2050.

Solar panels installed on the rooftop of Naver 1784 headquarters building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi [NAVER]

Naver said on Monday that it signed up for the RE100 initiative, a global campaign to replace all electricity generated by fossil fuels with renewable energy by 2050. This marked the first time for a Korean internet company to sign up for the initiative.

In 2021, Naver pledged to replace 60 percent of electricity consumption with renewable energy and reach the 100-percent goal by 2040 in its “2040 Carbon Negative” plan. The company is considering various methods to cut carbon emissions, including procuring renewable energy from suppliers through power purchasing agreements and deploying its own power generators at its office buildings and data centers. Data centers and office buildings use 99 percent of the power consumed, according to Naver.

RE100, short for Renewable Energy 100 percent, was started in 2014 by The Climate Group in partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project. The goal is to encourage global corporations to run on 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050.

Naver said that it is also managing its Scope 3 emissions, which is the carbon emitted from assets neither owned nor controlled by Naver, but with which the company has a business relationship with in the value chain, such as logistics companies and suppliers.

“We are reducing our environmental impact based on emission reduction plan including the Scope 3 emissions, while pushing for joining other global major eco-friendly initiatives such as EV100” said Lim Dong-a, executive officer of the environment in Naver.

EV100 is a global initiative to switch corporate fleets to electric vehicles.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]