Kim Sung-woo

According to "Clean Electricity Breaks New Records; Renewables on Track for Another Strong Year" published by BloombergNEF on Aug. 27, 40 percent of the world's electricity produced in 2023 came from zero-carbon energy sources: solar and wind contributed almost 13.9 percent, whereas hydro power and nuclear power accounted for 14.7 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively.

On a separate note, Brazil and France currently generate more than 75 percent of their energy based on carbon-free energy sources, while India and Mexico are under 25 percent, showing a wide gap among different countries. There is no question about the energy sector being a key industry to any country, and the ability to secure low-price and stable supply of energy is critical to companies. On the top of that, now carbon-free energy is becoming increasingly important as various stakeholders in society demand electricity generated from carbon-free energy sources.

For example, key stakeholders associated with companies, such as investors and consumers, would like the companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions so as to determine how rigorous companies are in combating climate change. The recently published Climate Disclosure Standards, in fact, incorporated these demands. With the disclosure obligation now in place, companies have no choice but to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions amounts reflecting the proportion of carbon-free energy use. Moreover, to meet the stakeholders’ demands to reduce........

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