This study aims to establish a strategic framework enabling the City of Seoul to emerge as a global ESG-leading city in an era of rising nationalism. It begins by examining shifts in the nationalism paradigm and current ESG-related regulatory trends and risks across political, economic, social, and environmental dimensions. From this, it draws key implications and benchmarks best practices from leading ESG cities around the world in areas such as regulatory compliance, supply chain management, environmental target achievement, social responsibility, and governance enhancement. These findings are then used to assess Seoul’s strengths and weaknesses and propose proactive strategies to address global ESG threats and opportunities.
In recent years, Seoul has laid the institutional groundwork for an ESG ecosystem through legislative measures such as ESG ordinances, the establishment of ESG guidelines for the MICE industry, implementation of climate budgeting and green procurement systems, and the integration of ESG criteria into public agency performance evaluations. The climate budgeting system incorporates GHG reduction impact into the budget allocation process at the planning stage, while mandatory legal obligations for green product procurement are expanding environmentally responsible public consumption. ESG indicators within the public agency evaluation system now encompass ethical management, energy efficiency, and social responsibility outcomes, laying the foundation for sustainable governance. Moreover, the city has expanded its collaboration with civil society and the private sector through the ESG Management Forum, public-private partnerships, and ESG capacity-building consulting for social enterprises.
However, major global cities such as California, New York, London, Paris, Copenhagen, Singapore, and Tokyo are leading ESG transitions through powerful regulations—mandatory GHG disclosures, ESG audits of supply chains, renewable energy adoption, and green space expansion. These cities are advancing toward net-zero goals via building and transportation decarbonization, circular economy initiatives, carbon taxes, and green plans. They are also reinforcing sustainable supply chain management through supply chain transparency, ethical procurement, and Digitalization of ESG practice. In terms of social responsibility, they are promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion(DEI), social investment, housing welfare, and citizen engagement campaigns. Governance systems are being institutionalized through the establishment of ESG committees, disclosure mandates, and the reform of governance structures, including performance-based ESG incentives.
As the economic center of Korea, Seoul has played a leadership role in advancing the national ESG strategy. Now, Seoul must present a leading local implementation model by institutionalizing laws and ordinances, embedding ESG tools in policymaking, synchronizing evaluation systems, and supporting private-sector expansion through its own differentiated approach. The strategic vision proposed in this study—“Sustainable Seoul 2050: A Global Top-Tier City of Carbon Neutrality through ESG”—is expected to guide Seoul in achieving a new level of qualitative excellence as a global sustainable metropolis.