Samsung Electronics invests over $5B, targets net zero emission by 2050

Samsung Electronics will invest over 7 trillion won ($5.02 billion) by 2030 as part of a widespread environmental initiative aimed at making the firm carbon neutral by 2050.

The tech giant will invest the money into research and development of technology aimed at filtering out greenhouse gases and capturing carbon dioxide generated during chip production, and is seeking to make its devices business carbon neutral earlier, by 2030, said the head of ESG strategy group at Samsung, Kim Soo-jin. The firm also plans to boost the recycling of resources such as plastic and lithium.

Samsung announced it joined a group of global corporations committed to 100% renewable energy called RE100, following in the footsteps of global peers like TSMC, Apple, and Intel.

South Korea also aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, an enormous challenge for a country with significant heavy industry including shipbuilding and steel.

For Samsung Electronics’ chip plants and other manufacturers in South Korea, stable and affordable energy is key for competitiveness, but advances in renewable energy have been too slow to meet these criteria so far.

Samsung’s investors and customers, with their own carbon-neutral goals, have long called for clearer environmental targets for Samsung.

The components and chips businesses accounted for 15.6 million of the 17.4 million tons, nearly 90%, of greenhouse gases Samsung Electronics, emitted in 2021, the firm said, while its device businesses accounted for 10%.