Kumho Tire supports the biodiversity conservation goals ofthe UN SDGs and participates in global biodiversity efforts by supporting the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories. Accordingly, we have established a Biodiversity Policy encompassing all domestic and international operations and suppliers, and we aim to promote employee participation in biodiversity conservation. The CEO-led ESG Management Committee oversees the formulation and revision of biodiversity policies, risk assessment, and the establishment of response measures. We also operate a reporting channel for grievances and violations related to biodiversity arising from business operations.

🔗Biodiversity Policy

Participation in Biodiversity Activities

In 2023, Kumho Tire participated in the Hwangryong River Jangnok Wetland clean-up activities near the Gwangju plant, in collaboration with local governments and public institutions. Jangnok Wetland is the only urban river wetland, home to various flora and fauna including seaweed, salt marsh plants, and aquatic plants. It is ecologically connected to the Yeongsan River, playing a crucial role in maintaining the ecological balance due to its well-preserved natural state. We continue to participate in litter collection activities to protect the Jangnok Wetland ecosystem and have also participated in flower planting events to improve the ecological environment of the riverside trails. We plan to expand our activities for biodiversity conservation in the future.

Employee Awareness Enhancement Activities

On May 22, 2023, to mark the UN-designated ‘International Day for Biological Diversity,’ we published a company newsletter related to biodiversity. The newsletter aimed to easily convey the definition, importance, and necessity of biodiversity conservation to all domestic employees, highlighting its significance in relation to business activities, such as the supply of natural rubber, a vital natural resource. As a global tire manufacturing company, we recognize our responsibility to protect and enhance biodiversity around our business sites. We plan to develop measures to encourage employee participation through awareness-raising activities and external collaborations.

Biodiversity Risk Assessment

Kumho Tire analyzed the ecosystem risks around its domestic and global business sites using the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s Biodiversity Risk Filter. The analysis measured physical risks, which are the direct impacts of biodiversity changes on the industry, and reputational risks, which are the impacts on the industry from stakeholders concerned about biodiversity loss. The results showed very high physical risks for the plants in Nanjing and Tianjin, China, and Binh Duong, Vietnam. The Nanjing, Tianjin, and Changchun plants in China also exhibited the highest reputational risks. Based on this risk analysis, we plan to develop response measures to conserve biodiversity around our business sites.

* KBAs (Key Biodiversity Areas): Geographic areas identified as internationally important for biodiversity conservation, based on globally standardized criteria published by the IUCN, as part of a collaboration between scientists, conservation organizations, and government agencies worldwide.

IUCN Category II (National Park): Large natural or near-natural areas protecting large-scale ecological processes with characteristic species and ecosystems

IUCN Category III (Natural Monument or Feature): Areas set aside to protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, submarine cavern, geological feature, or even a living feature, of high cultural, historical, or scientific interest.

IUCN Category IV (Habitat / Species Management Area): Areas aimed at protecting particular species or habitats and where management reflects this priority.

IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape / Seascape): Areas where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant ecological, biological, cultural, and scenic value, and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital

for protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation and other values.

IUCN Category VI (Protected Area with Sustainable Use of Natural Resources): Areas protected and managed by the state for the sustainable activities of ecosystems

IUCN Category VI: Man and the Biosphere is one of UNESCO’s interdisciplinary and capacity-building intergovernmental science programs aimed at improving the relationship between humans and the environment globally

** Critically Endangered (CR): Species with an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

Endangered (EN): Species with a high risk of extinction in the wild

Vulnerable (VU): Species with a high risk of becoming endangered in the wild