ESG Committee Launched under Board of Directors
Kakao announced on Jan. 12 its plans to bolster its business operations centered around Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) by forming an ESG committee and enacting the corporate governance charter.
Kakao held a board of directors meeting and agreed to launch an ESG Committee under the board. The committee will be responsible for reviewing the direction of the company’s sustainable business operational strategies and managing and supervising its performance and problems. The ESG Committee consists of chairman Brian Kim, independent directors Choi Se-jung and Park Sae-rom.
Kakao also established and announced a corporate governance charter that lays the foundation of Kakao’s sustainable business operations. The charter contains the operational directions on five areas: Operations monitoring by stockholders, the board of directors, auditing organizations, stakeholders and the overall market. The charter serves as a declaration for responsible business operations under the supervision of the independent board of directors that brings knowledge and expertise to help develop a robust governance structure. The charter will be made available online on the official Kakao website and Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) run by the Financial Supervisory Service in Korean for general stockholders and English version will be released for overseas investors.
Moreover, Kakao has long been undertaking various activities in order to take on greater social and digital responsibilities. On Jan. 4 of this year, Kakao released the Kakao Business and Human Rights Statement that defines the company’s obligations to protect the human rights of its employees and business partners, its responsibility to protect user privacy and guarantee freedom of expression, and principles for digital responsibility and sustainability. Market insiders view this move as a preemptive measure. In July last year, Kakao added an article prohibiting the sexual crimes against children and adolescents to its corporate operational policy, reflecting its willingness to pay close attention to child and adolescent issues.
Back in January 2018, Kakao announced the Kakao Algorithm Ethics, the first of its kind on technological development and ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). The company has also issued a biannual report on transparency starting in 2012 to protect user privacy. In September last year, the company published the KakaoCOVID-19 White Paper in a series of 10 sections, analyzing the latest situations and relevant data that help readers understand how everyday life has changed to overcome the crisis.
On the social front, Kakao runs diverse platforms aimed at shaping a better society such as Kakao Project 100 and Kakao Together in its effort to proactively address social issues. Kakao Project 100 is a platform that advocates behavioral change, where users can select from a variety of activities with a goal of making small achievements in everyday life, which would add up over time to ultimately make the world better. On Kakao Together, anyone can start or take part in fundraising campaigns that are meant to help enhance society.
In a bid to contribute to the transition to a low-carbon economy (LCE), Kakao is building an environment-friendly data center slated to be completed in 2023. Meanwhile, the current state of affairs and the performance of the ESG business operations will be released later on in the form of a sustainability report.