Hana Financial Group vows to cut Daejeon Hana Citizen's carbon footprint

Hana Financial Group committed Sunday to achieving net zero carbon emissions for Daejeon Hana Citizen, a professional football team sponsored by the group, in a bid to join a global effort to cut carbon footprints.

Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Lee Eun-hyung, far left, and others hold a banner celebrating Daejeon Hana Citizen football team's commitment for carbon neutrality on Sunday. [Hana Financial Group]

Hana Financial Group committed Sunday to achieving net zero carbon emissions for Daejeon Hana Citizen, a professional football team sponsored by the group, in a bid to join a global effort to cut carbon footprints.

The financial group announced during a game on Sunday that Daejeon Hana Citizen will aim for carbon neutrality especially in home matches at Daejeon World Cup Stadium.

The effort is in line with the endeavor by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to include more corporations, institutions and sports teams as signatories for carbon neutrality.

The UNFCCC created an initiative called Sports for Climate Action Framework that entitles signatories with greater environmental responsibility. The K League 1, known as the Hana 1Q K League for sponsorship reasons, also signed up for the initiative.

The financial group said that it will quantify and publish the football team’s greenhouse gas emissions and devise ways to reduce emissions, including purchasing carbon credits.

Hana Financial Group said that the decision is intended to serve environmental, social and governance (ESG) values.

“It is meaningful that our professional football team Daejeon Hana Citizen became a part of our effort to engage in ESG-oriented management,” Lee Eun-hyung, Hana Financial Group vice chairman, said.

“We will continue to spearhead ESG activities, including hosting football matches aligned with our carbon neutrality commitment, in a sincere manner for the future generation."

The group earned the top score among financiers in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, an index measuring corporation’s sustainability and ESG-related activities.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]