The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. on Thursday said it has been recognized by the US-based New York Festivals Advertising Awards for its environmental, social and governance efforts, marking the first time a Korean government agency has won in the ESG category.

The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., also known as aT, is a government agency entrusted with promoting the trade, export and marketing of Korean foods and beverages worldwide.

The agency said it won the ESG management award at the 2024 New York Festivals Korea-National Brand Awards, under the New York Festivals. The award ceremony was held in New York on Wednesday.

As for its ESG endeavors, aT launched the "Low Carbon Diet Campaign" in 2021, dedicated to minimizing greenhouse gas emissions generated in producing, distributing, processing and consuming food.

Encouraging citizen and industry engagement, the campaign promotes diets based on low-carbon, eco-friendly certified agricultural and livestock products, and seafood boasting high carbon absorption rates like seaweed. Moreover, the campaign also advocates for reducing food waste during processing and consumption to achieve zero food waste.

In line with its ESG efforts, aT also hosted the Global Low Carbon Diet Vision Declaration Ceremony in 2022 to expand the initiative into an international campaign.

Recognized for its role in spearheading global low-carbon diet and net-zero efforts, the agency received a plaque of appreciation from Washington in December.

“We will continue to accelerate the globalization of low-carbon diets, integrate ESG values into our unique business initiatives, and lead the culture of ESG management practices in the public sector," said Kim Chun-jin, CEO of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.