Introduction

Recently, there is a movement to emphasize the importance of ESG and promote ESG management. ESG is an abbreviation of E (Environment), S (Social), and G (Governance), and refers to non-financial factors that affect corporate value and sustainability, not corporate financial performance. Numerous domestic and overseas institutions have developed various performance indicators to evaluate the ESG management performance of companies and 600 evaluation indicators are being operated, but the detailed items and contents of each evaluation institution are different, so the companies subject to evaluation are experiencing difficulties in ESG management. Therefore, the use of international standards established by international consensus can be a good way to add objectivity and credibility to ESG evaluation.

Among ESG items, E stands for Environment, that is, a company's environmental protection activities. Companies carry out environmental protection activities through the use of renewable raw materials, management of greenhouse gas and waste emissions, and management of energy use, and domestic and overseas ESG performance evaluation institutions conduct corporate ESG performance through items such as carbon emission, greenhouse gas emission, and energy use. In the K-ESG guidelines distributed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in December 2021, the following diagnosis items were presented in relation to E (environment).

< ESG management >

ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems

ISO 50001 is an international standard that stipulates the requirements of an energy management system and provides guidelines for organizations to establish systems and processes necessary to improve energy performance, including energy efficiency, use and consumption. ISO 50001 was revised in 2018 and empowers those responsible for the operation of facilities, ensuring reduction of energy consumption and related costs, environmental impact, and improved competitiveness. In other words, it is used as a systematic tool to maximize energy resources and organizational competitiveness through economic, social, and environmental interventions by interacting with various business models of the organization and increasing productivity.

< ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems >

Guide for Implementation of Energy Management System

CONUEE (Comisión Nacional para el Uso Eficiente de la Energía) in Mexico has published a guide to implementing and interpreting the requirements of ISO 50001 to help organizations of all types integrate into their processes and strategies and has provided the following updated courses for evaluators of ema (entidad mexicana de acreditación), including a review on the important concepts of ISO 50001.

• ISO 50006 Energy management systems : Measuring energy performance using energy baselines (EnB) and energy performance indicators (EnPI)
• ISO 50047 Energy savings : Determination of energy savings in organizations
• ISO 50015 Energy management systems : Measurement and verification of energy performance of organizations

It also emphasizes the training, knowledge, experience, and ability of the audit team for an energy management system certification to review objectively, effectively, and consciously what is being evaluated. With this course, the collaboration of CONUEE with ema was strengthened to continue supporting the quality of the conformity assessment of the organizations that seek to certify their energy management system developed in accordance with ISO 50001.