[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s major food chains signed an agreement Wednesday with the Environment Ministry to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The participating brands are local bakery Paris Baguette, Paul Bassett and Toreore Chicken. There are over 4,000 branches of these stores across the nation. Twelve percent of this number, or 509 stores, in metropolitan areas will join the move.

The ministry welcomed the participation as food chains generally have high energy consumption from air conditioning, heating, refrigeration and lighting.

According to research by the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute in 2014, 52 percent of greenhouse gases released by food chains here are from electricity usage.

Along with support from civic groups, the ministry will first conduct a greenhouse gas emissions analysis by visiting branches of the participating companies.

Each branch will follow an action plan which includes installing insulation windows, keeping the indoor temperature stable, using high efficiency light bulbs and avoiding the use of disposable products.

Owners will also promote the campaign and increase public awareness to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing specially designed tray papers to customers.

The ministry said that it expects to see a 5 percentage point fall in greenhouse gas emissions year-on-year through this campaign, leading to a reduction of 2,240 tons of CO2 emissions and 620 million won ($560,000) of savings annually.

In 2014, KEITI data showed that some 900 cafes which participated in the government-led campaign cut down the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percentage points year-on-year. Approximately 4.4 tons of CO2 emissions were reduced at each cafe, it said.

The ministry added that it will expand the move by targeting major supermarkets and convenience stores.

By Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald (ddd@heraldcorp.com)