Park Sung-hyun, the incumbent chief strategy and sustainability officer of Shinhan Financial Group has been appointed as a new member to the prestigious Global Steering Committee under the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the banking group said Sunday. 

Launched in 1992, UNEP FI is a strategic public-private association set up by the UNEP and the global financial sector with the purpose of sustainable management. It is working with more than 300 financial institutions across the globe, including banks, insurers, and investors in order to expand the ESG management, a business model centered on environmental, social and governance standards. The GSC -- the highest decision-making board of the UNEP FI -- provides executive direction on work program or budget issues on a regular basis.

Starting next year, Park will represent 57 Asia Pacific banks across South Korea, China and Australia on the GSC from 2021 to 2023, alongside 12 members, including two co-chairs, Antoni Ballabriga, global head of responsible business at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Jacki Johnson, an advisor to Insurance Australia Group Limited on climate, sustainability and resilience. 

Park became the first Korean financier to be named to the GSC and his appointment was mainly attributed to a series of environment-related projects led by the banking giant. 

“Shinhan Financial Group’s efforts to accelerate sustainable finance in the local finance market have been internationally recognized, leading to the latest appointment of Park,” said Lim Dae-woong, the UNEP FI Korea Representative. 

Since joining the UNEP FI in 2008, Shinhan Financial has taken the lead in sustainable finance by implementing its green management system in 2010 and establishing a joint international treaty dubbed “Principles for Responsible Banking” in France in 2018, among noted financial institutions to strengthen global cooperation for a sustainable finance system. Also, last year, the country‘s largest financial holding firm became the nation’s first financial group to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices World for seven straight years, officials said.

“(Shinhan Financial) will continue to strive for sustainable management through various green activities in cooperation with its partners across the globe,” the group official said. 

By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)