South Korea’s biggest Korea Exchange-listed companies have been linked to the loss of more than five times the land area of Seoul in natural areas in and around their domestic business sites over the past four decades, according to new research that highlights the growing pressure on firms to account for biodiversity impacts alongside carbon emissions.
The study, released by Seoul-based non-profit Korea SHE Foundation, analysed domestic business sites of 29 of the top 30 KOSPI-listed companies by market capitalisation between 1980 and 2020, excluding Samsung Electronics preferred shares.
KOSPI, or the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, is the index of all common stocks traded on the Stock Market Division of the Korea Exchange.
It found that a combined 327,837 hectares of natural area disappeared within company premises and in surrounding areas defined as their zone of influence, equivalent to around 5.4 times the size of Seoul.
The findings come as global regulators and investors increasingly push companies to disclose not only greenhouse gas emissions but also their impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, under frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
The South Korean study is among the first attempts to quantify the long-term nature loss associated with major domestic companies using the TNFD’s LEAP methodology, the foundation said.
TNFD’s LEAP methodology is a framework that helps companies and financial institutions identify where their operations and value chains interact with nature, assess their impacts and dependencies, and translate these into nature-related risks, opportunities and disclosures.
“Nature-related disclosure is becoming an international standard, and South Korean companies also need to systematically identify and respond to nature loss and biodiversity impacts,” the research team said.
The issue has climbed up the global policy agenda since countries adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022, which set a target of halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 under the concept of “nature positive”. The TNFD and the International Sustainability Standards Board are also working to establish disclosure standards for nature-related risks and impacts.
Within business site boundaries, POSCO Holdings recorded the largest natural area loss at 1,408.1 hectares over the 40-year period, followed by Samsung Electronics with 1,022.6 hectares, Hyundai Motor with 734.5 hectares, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries with 695.7 hectares and Kia with 525.4 hectares, the study found.
When the scope was expanded to include a 5-kilometre radius around sites, LG Electronics showed the largest reduction in natural area at 55,304.2 hectares, followed by Samsung Electronics with 46,682.5 hectares, LG Chem with 41,245.6 hectares, Hanwha Aerospace with 40,659.5 hectares and Hyundai Mobis with 40,054.2 hectares.
The researchers told local media that the findings do not mean that all nature loss in surrounding areas can be directly attributed to the activities of individual companies, as urbanisation, infrastructure expansion and other forms of development would also have played a role.
But they added the data could serve as a starting point for understanding where corporate operations and ecosystem change intersect.
Inside business site boundaries, the study found a sharp decline first in semi-natural areas such as agricultural land and bare land, followed by losses in ecologically valuable natural ecosystems such as forests and wetlands.
Over the 40 years studied, semi-natural areas within company premises shrank by 98.3 per cent, from 3,156.7 hectares to 54.9 hectares, while natural ecosystems fell 67.6 per cent, from 4,504.3 hectares to 1,458.3 hectares.
Jang Jae-yeon, chairman of the Korea SHE Foundation, said the study was significant because it was the first to quantify by company the scale of nature loss generated during South Korea’s industrialisation.
“We hope this can serve as a starting point for companies to objectively understand their relationship with nature and establish strategies and restoration plans to reduce nature loss,” Jang said.
The institute said companies should move beyond measuring nature loss to setting concrete strategies to avoid and minimise damage, as well as restoration targets and implementation plans covering both business sites and supply chains.
It plans to publish further analysis on the overlap between corporate sites and ecologically sensitive areas, as well as differences in nature impacts across industries.
