Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won (이억원) on Tuesday held the fourth meeting on a major shift toward productive finance. He presented a draft roadmap to institutionalise ESG disclosures to support companies' green transition (GX) and announced a plan to supply 790 trillion won in climate finance.

The Financial Services Commission held the meeting at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry with about 30 participants, including officials from related ministries, relevant institutions, business groups and experts.

The FSC released the draft ESG disclosure roadmap and plans to collect opinions until March 31 and finalise it in April.

Disclosures will begin in phases starting with KOSPI-listed companies with consolidated total assets of 30 trillion won or more for fiscal 2027 in 2028. Scope 3 value chain emissions will, in principle, be disclosed from 2031.

For Scope 3, after building calculation and estimation infrastructure, there will be a three-year grace period, and small and medium-sized companies will be granted initial exceptions. The disclosure channel will operate through exchange disclosures and will shift to statutory disclosures under the Capital Markets Act after the system is established.

In the early stages of the system, the FSC will allow safe harbour when using forecast and estimated information and will focus on guidance rather than sanctions.

The FSC will supply 790 trillion won in climate finance from 2026 to 2035 to achieve the 2035 NDC national greenhouse gas reduction target.

The plan expands an existing 420 trillion won programme for 2024 to 2030. It will concentrate more than 50 percent in local regions and more than 70 percent on small and medium-sized and mid-sized companies.

It will also introduce a Korean-style transition finance programme to support carbon reductions by high-carbon companies. It will expand the scope of green finance by supporting low-carbon transitions in high-carbon industries such as steel, chemicals and cement.

It will build a climate finance web portal and a financial emissions platform, centred on the Korea Credit Information Services, to support the financial sector's climate response.

Lee said ESG was a key task for productive finance and stressed the importance of supplying venture capital and building infrastructure led by the public sector. He added that the climate crisis was directly linked to economic growth and people's lives and that finance would serve as a central supporter of K-GX, driving carbon neutrality and the growth of new green industries.