ESG Research Center holds “ESG Colloquium: Public Institutions and ESG Management Outlook for 2023”

ESG should be applied to public institutions as well

Discussion on ESG Management outlook for 2023

“ESG Colloquium: Public Institution and ESG Management Outlook for 2023”, hosted by KUBS ESG Research Center (Head= Professor Jaehyuk Lee) was held at Korea University LG-POSCO Hall on last 21st. The event was held to analyze the research results on ESG management in public institutions and to facilitate interdisciplinary research on ESG, as the importance of ESG management has been emphasized and required in public institutions as well. This event was followed by △Introduction to events and guests △ESG interdisciplinary research contest winner presentation △ Presentation and discussion on the outlook of the 2023 public institution management △ Presentation and a discussion on the necessity of ESG evaluation in a public institution.

In the first session “ESG interdisciplinary research contest winner presentation”, presentations were made by the winning teams (3 teams) of the “Public institution ESG management facilitation plan’ contest which was hosted by ESG Research Center in 2022. △ Let’s Try Team (Saerom Lee, Kijoon Jung, and Jeongjin Choi) on  ‘Analysis of ESG Management and support for SMEs on major public institutions’, △ ESG Wannabe Team (Yoojung Shin, Sieun Park, Bomi Lee, Junyoung Cheon, and Yujin Hyun) on ‘Promoting ESG in private companies of public institutions focusing on public procurement’ △ ESG KU TF Team (Junghyun Lee, Subin Seo, Suhyun Jo, Daeun Jung) on ‘Research on evaluation methods for ESG management for ESG management in public institutions focusing on energy institutions.’ Daeun Jung (Business’ 20) from the ESG KU TF team said “I was able to learn knowledge that had been ambiguous and the process of formulating strategies for the effective spread of ESG business”, and said “It was an honor to have this valuable experience of delivering the research results to related industry experts.

In the second session, ‘Presentation and discussion on the outlook of the 2023 public institution management were held. Professor Hyunsun Choi from Myongji University (former head of the Public Institution Management Evaluation Office at the Ministry of Economic and Finance) gave a presentation on ‘Direction of the ESG evaluation system and indicators for public institutions’ and raised concerns about the problem of 350 different public institutions using the same indicators to conduct management evaluations. In the panel discussion, Professor Yongjun Sung (Korea Univerisity Department of Psychology, former evaluation committee member of the public institution) and Jaehyuk Lee KUBS professor (Head of KU ESG Research Center) participated and pointed out that the monotonous management evaluation system of public institutions tends to focus on short-term performance. Professor Jaehyuk Lee said that “If management evaluation focuses on short-term evaluations, it may not be easy to expect public institutions to pursue voluntary innovation from a long-term perspective.”.

 In the last third session, a presentation and panel discussion on the need for public institution ESG evaluation was held. Jeongyoon Park, the vice-director of the Institute for Culture and Community Research at Myongji University, gave a presentation on the ‘diagnosis of complementary directions for items for K-ESG guidelines for public institutions’. Vice-director Park diagnosed the current state of ESG practices in domestic public institutions and raised the need for establishing K-ESG guidelines specifically for public institutions. Professor Jaehyuk Lee and Yongsik Ok (President of the International ESG Association and professor of Environment and Ecological Engineering at Korea University) participated in the panel discussion. Professor Ok stated that “Environmental issues and governance issues are closely related.”, and ‘The interest and understanding of ESG-related committees in public institutions should be improved.”

During the closing remarks after the event, Professor Jaehyuk Lee pointed out the need for changes and innovation in public institutions to keep up with as the importance of stakeholders is being emphasized. He stated that “I hope that this colloquium today will serve as an opportunity to accelerate such changes.