Climate Change

We build a sustainable future on our journey toward Net-Zero by 2050.

Environmental Management System

CJ CheilJedang has sustainability governance to accelerate the establishment and implementation of sustainable environmental strategies. The Corporate Sustainability Committee under the Board of Directors is the highest decision-making body that deliberates and makes decisions on environmental management issues, including climate change response. Items to be presented to the committee undergo preliminary discussions at the Corporate Sustainability Council, which consists of the CEO, top executives of each business division, and the head of the ESG organization. As an organization dedicated to corporate-wide climate change response and sustainable environmental management, the Corporate ESG Management regularly identifies laws and regulations related to environmental management, establishes, and implements corporate-wide environmental management strategies including risk identification and analysis, and takes responsibility for effective collaboration and internal and external communication with ESG departments and working- level organizations.

Other Indirect GHG Emissions (Scope 3)

CJ CheilJedang is building a management framework for other indirect emissions (Scope 3) that covers the entire value chain, extending beyond GHG management at company business sites.

We have prioritized six out of the fifteen Scope 3 emissions categories companywide, based on their proportion and significance. This is based on the GHG Protocol's Corporate Value Chain Accounting and Reporting Standard, and data were collected with the participation of the Corporate Purchasing, SCM, Environment, and ESG units.

In 2024, Scope 3 emissions totaled 7.575 million tCO2eq. The methodology and emissions calculations were third-party verified by the Korea Standards Association (KSA). Due to the nature of the industry, the largest portion of Scope 3 emissions came from purchased goods and services at 5.991 million tCO2eq (97.1%), followed by fuel- and energy-related activities not included in scope 1 or scope 2 (902 thousand tCO2eq, 11.9%), and upstream transportation and distribution (331 thousand tCO2eq, 4.4%).

Moving forward, we plan to expand the reporting scope by category and continuously refine our activity data and methodologies to achieve even more accurate emissions calculations.

Implementation of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

In 2024, as part of strengthening sustainability management to achieve carbon reduction, the BIO Business Unit established a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework for 41 products manufactured across seven manufacturing sites in five countries. The assessment process underwent third-party validation by the global certification body DNV. This initiative marks the first case in Korea’s food and Green BIO industry where LCA verification was conducted at the site level, rather than for individual products. The evaluation quantitatively measured environmental impacts such as climate change and resource depletion across the cradle-to-gate stages of each product. The verified products included next-generation seasoning ingredients produced through natural fermentation processes and feed-grade amino acids. Notably, the assessment of feed-grade amino acids followed the EU LCA guidelines, ensuring the credibility of the carbon emissions data. Additionally, we developed 'BIOFEED', a program that enables integrated management of feed formulation and carbon footprint, to support our customers in achieving their carbon reduction targets. Moving forward, we will continue to expand the development of low-carbon products and advance our greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction initiatives based on internationally standardized LCA methodologies.

Application of the Internal Carbon Pricing System

To incorporate the financial implications of climate change into investment decision-making, we apply an internal carbon pricing. Internal carbon pricing is factored into both the review and execution stages of investment projects across business units, quantifying potential carbon-related costs and incorporating them into assessments of investment profitability and risk. Investments subject to internal carbon pricing require approval from the relevant business unit's executive leadership and are monitored at the enterprise level to ensure implementation. The carbon prices are primarily determined by referencing the price trends in the Emissions Trading System (ETS) of the relevant investment country. The prices are applied across various investment decisions, including the construction of new plants, capacity expansions, and high-efficiency facility upgrades.

Operation of Global Market Intelligence Room

In response to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, CJ CheilJedang has recognized the growing importance of climate-related risk management and established a Global Market Intelligence (MI) Room in 2019. The yields of major raw materials such as raw sugar, wheat, soybeans, and corn are highly susceptible to weather conditions, and associated price fluctuations can have a significant impact on business profitability. To mitigate these risks, the MI Room conduct real-time monitoring of crop conditions in major producing regions using global meteorological data provided by institutions such as ECMWF¹⁾ and NOAA²⁾, along with key indicators such as El Niño and La Niña. In addition, we conducts AI-based risk management based on a database of extreme weather events and more than 30 years of global meteorological data. Moreover, we have secured dedicated meteorological personnel and established a system for regularly reporting weather trends in key sourcing regions and sharing this information internally, thereby strengthening on-the-ground response capabilities. Looking ahead, we plan to expand the scope of its analysis to localized areas by incorporating data from the Korea Meteorological Administration.

1) European Centre for MediumRange Weather Forecasts
2) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Climate-Resilient Raw Material Development

Development of Heat-Tolerant Napa Cabbage Cultivar

CJ CheilJedang initiated research in 2018 to proactively address the impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures in highland regions and unstable napa cabbage supply during the summer season. As a result, we successfully developed Korea’s first heat-tolerant napa cabbage cultivar suitable for cultivation in low-altitude areas during the summer. The developed cultivar exhibits stable heading¹⁾ even under high temperatures exceeding 25°C, a notable improvement over conventional cultivars that form heads only below 18°C. It also features light green leaves ideal for kimchi production, high yield, and robust root development, making it resilient to climate stressors such as heatwaves, heavy rain, and temporary droughts. These characteristics enable napa cabbage cultivation beyond the geographical limitations of highland farming in summer, supporting a stable supply chain for raw materials even under evolving climate conditions by maintaining both price and quality competitiveness. In 2024, we validated the field performance of the new cultivar and successfully tested its application in kimchi products. Moving forward, we aim to expand the cultivation area and production volume to gradually replace conventional summer napa cabbage supply.

Development of Land-Based Gim Cultivation Technology

CJ CheilJedang has been developing comprehensive solution to address the deteriorating marine aquaculture environment caused by rising seawater temperatures due to climate change. Since 2018, this initiative has included heat-tolerant gim cultivar optimized for land-based cultivation, as well as related cultivation and processing technologies. The land-based gim cultivar developed by CJ CheilJedang is capable of stable growth in hightemperature conditions, achieving higher yields than conventional gim cultivar under the same conditions. In contrast, conventional cultivars are less heat-tolerant and require energy-intensive cooling processes in land-based systems. We have also built a year-round production system tailored to land-based cultivation, enabling continuous gim cultivation regardless of seasonality. This approach allows for precise control over water temperature and quality, reducing the risk of disease and contamination, and ensuring continuous production even during the summer offseason of traditional marine farming. We are currently focusing on scaling up cultivation operations and enhancing technical advancement, with a target of full commercialization through continuous research and development.