Yuhan-Kimberly leads green innovation

Tree-planting campaign marks 30th anniversary

Yuhan-Kimberly leads environmental conservation efforts in the country through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program Keep Korea Green.

The program, launched in 1984 by a joint venture between Korean pharmaceutical firm Yuhan Corp. and global personal care company Kimberly-Clark, plans to reach the mark of 50 million trees planted nationwide sometime this year.

The green program’s other activities include creating green sites on local school campuses, preventing desertification in Northeast Asia and increasing the number of urban forests in the nation’s capital.

“We have always believed a CSR program is an investment for a better society where enterprises can co-exist with other members of a community,” Yuhan-Kimberly said in a statement.

Before the company launched its environmental program 30 years ago, the term “environment” was understood to mean someone’s background rather than to ecology, according to the company.

“Such a misconception meant that people didn’t feel the need to take care of the natural environment,” it said.

“By the time the program was launched, the government had just started restoring forests to address the nearly irreparable damage.

“But people still perceived that environmentally friendly efforts are made by the government, not by ordinary people.

“We came up with the Keep Korea Green campaign so that everyone could start planting trees together and enjoy the forests,” it added.

Yuhan-Kimberly plants trees in both state-run and publicly owned forests, and provides opportunities for people to participate in various environmental activities.

For instance, it invited newlywed couples to participate in tree planting to help them recognize the importance of a green environment and to encourage them to teach this value to their children.

Since 1998, the company has been working closely with the country’s forest conservation organizations to create green sites on school campuses, such as gardens, small arboretums and walls covered in vines.

It also offers educational programs that teach how to keep schools green. It has also been holding a green camp where high school girls learn about the importance of a green environment. Some 4,000 students have attended the camp since it began in 1988.

In 1999, Yuhan-Kimberly began to expand its environmental CSR program abroad. It has helped prevent desertification in Tujiin Nars in Mongolia and restore forests in North Korea. It has also produced publications that outline the value of forests, protecting forest wildlife, fresh air and decreasing air pollution.

“We’ve planted some 12.85 million trees in North Korea and some 10.13 million trees in Mongolia as of this year,” the company said.

“Apart from the forest conservation activities, our employees also practice environmental management to address climate change. We aim to reduce greenhouse emissions by 30 percent and increase the sales of green products by 30 percent by 2020.”

The company has also been planting trees in Seoul, the nation’s most populated city. Since 2005, it has been planting trees in Seoul Forest, a park in Seongdong-gu that’s open year-round and also helped create 12 small forests in residential areas.

The company said its CSR programs have helped win the trust of its customers. According to a company survey last year, 93.1 percent of its customers said it is Korea’s most trustworthy enterprise, while 87.8 percent said it is a leader in CSR activities among local firms. By Yi Whan-woo The korea times