Korea’s Department-Store Big Three Diverge on Emissions; Only Hyundai Posts Three Straight Years of Cuts

South Korea’s three largest department store operators reported sharply divergent greenhouse gas trajectories over the past three years, based on regulatory filings covered by GreenPost Korea on 22 June 2026. Hyundai Department Store is the only operator to have achieved three consecutive years of reductions: its department-store division’s footprint fell a cumulative 3.3 percent, from 168,609 tCO₂eq in 2022 to an estimated 161,484 tCO₂eq in 2025. Energy consumption followed the same downward path — 3,517 TJ in 2022 to 3,406 TJ in 2025 — a parallel decline the article presents as evidence of genuine efficiency improvement rather than fuel-switching. Hyundai’s data have been verified as conformant by Ministry of Environment-designated greenhouse gas auditors throughout the reduction period, and the company holds ISO 14001 environmental management certification obtained from the Korea Standards Association in May 2021. The article additionally cites two in-store circular-economy initiatives: a closed-loop paper-bag recycling programme, introduced on an industry-first basis in 2022, and a plastic-film reuse scheme launched in 2024 that converts in-store plastic waste into waste-collection bags.

Shinsegae recorded a 6.2 percent emissions increase over two years, rising from 123,212 tCO₂eq in 2022 to 130,801 tCO₂eq in 2024, with 2025 estimates reaching 135,205 tCO₂eq. The article attributes the rise to substantial floor-space expansions at the company’s Gangnam flagship in 2024 — a premium food hall and a luxury retail zone — which added to electricity and HVAC demand. Even so, Shinsegae’s absolute emissions total remains the smallest of the three. Lotte Shopping’s department-store division posted a negligible net reduction of 1.0 percent from 2022 to 2024 (278,392 to 275,719 tCO₂eq), after a brief dip in 2023 was largely reversed the following year. When Lotte’s hypermarket, supermarket, and e-commerce operations are included, the group’s combined 2024 emissions reached 717,398 tCO₂eq — far exceeding the other two operators — which the article characterises as a sign of the deeper structural decarbonisation challenge facing the conglomerate.

On Korea’s mandatory Emissions Trading Scheme compliance outlook, the article notes that Hyundai holds a total free allocation of 495,893 Korean Allowance Units (KAU) for the ETS’s fourth planning period, with annual allowances declining from 106,779 KAU in 2026 to 91,648 KAU in 2030 (1 KAU = 1 tCO₂). If current efficiency trends continue, the article suggests, Hyundai should be able to meet its obligations without recourse to open-market purchases. All three groups have stated long-term carbon-neutrality targets; the article’s central argument is that three years of actual emissions data offer a more meaningful measure of progress than any corporate declaration.