South Korean conglomerate GS Group said Wednesday it had launched an environmental council consisting of its chief governance officers in an effort to strengthen the group’s ESG approach.

The council will serve as the group’s top decision maker on matters such as pursuing new environmentally friendly business projects and anything ESG -- investments that prioritize environmental, social and governance issues.

The decision to form the council comes as taking an ESG approach is being increasingly considered a “necessity” rather than an “option,” the group said.

The new move follows in the footsteps of its “Growth through Sustainability” project which began last year with its subsidiaries as part of efforts to seek ways to grow in an environmentally friendly way.

“Seeking environmental sustainability is what society and customers are asking for and something that needs to be made a priority when pursuing new business projects,” said Huh Tae-soo, the chairman of GS Group.

Under the new plan, the group seeks to apply its ESG approach across the board within the group by assigning the new council to three major tasks ranging from pursuing ESG, safety, health and environment as well as overseeing new environment-friendly projects.

A meeting will take place every month between CGOs while CEOs of the group’s subsidiaries will take on an advisory role, according to the group.

The latter will focus on climate change, industrial biotechnology and resource circulation.

During a meeting held last month, Huh urged subsidiaries within GS Group to work together and encouraged collaborations with startups and venture capitals in seeking new opportunities, also known as the New to Big strategy.

Last year, the group founded a venture capital firm GS Futures in Silicon Valley as part of efforts to create a synergy with its digital and environmentally friendly businesses.

GS Group is currently seeking biotechnology startups through its accelerator program named The GS Challenge program.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)