April 26, 2024

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KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo attends the ninth High-Level Meeting of Caring for Climate of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, via videoconference, at the banking group’s headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Wednesday, in this photo released Thursday. (KB Financial Group)

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo shared the banking group’s plans in combating climate change at an invitation-only meeting of senior officials across global sectors and governments held Wednesday at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the firm said Nov. 11.

At the ninth High-Level Meeting of Caring for Climate, held online and offline simultaneously, Yoon was invited on behalf of the global finance sector to speak on the topic of achieving a just, equitable and inclusive transition to a net-zero society. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan and British drugmaker AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson were among those invited to speak at the meeting.

The Seoul-based banking group chief, via videoconference, said that while eliminating high-carbon businesses from the portfolio would be an easy way to achieve net-zero through a “negative strategy,” KB Financial plans to adopt a “positive strategy” in which it would finance the industries’ shift toward low- and zero-carbon projects.

On cooperation with the UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance, Yoon highlighted the role of the global banking alliance in bringing together businesses to achieve the common goal of creating a net-zero society.

Yoon also vowed that KB Financial would work as a leader in the Asia-Pacific to boost and encourage participation of bankers in the region to combat climate change.

KB Financial is currently South Korea’s No. 1 banking group by assets, holding 650.5 trillion won ($548.6 billion) as of end-September.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)