Samsung to pump $7b into green projects, lobby Seoul to add clean energy

Samsung Electronics will invest 7 trillion won (S$7 billion) in green initiatives and lobby South Korea to add more clean energy as it looks to reverse a rise in emissions and zero out direct pollution by mid-century.

The world's largest memory chipmaker, which has seen its climate footprint swell in recent years as it grew energy-intensive manufacturing lines, plans to eliminate carbon emissions in categories known as Scope 1 and 2. It has not developed goals to reduce Scope 3 pollution like some peers, though it intends to set targets in future.

South Korea's biggest company also aims to switch overseas factories entirely to renewable electricity within five years, though it argues it cannot yet pursue a similar target for its most energy-hungry domestic plants - which account for the majority of production - because of constraints on the availability of clean power in the fossil fuel-reliant nation.