Kakao Bank, the internet-only banking arm of South Korea’s Kakao Corp, has pledged $2 million to UNICEF to support young people in Southeast Asia affected by climate change.
The two-year partnership with UNICEF’s global and Korean offices will focus on children and teenagers in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand. In Indonesia, the funds will improve school sanitation and clean water access. In Cambodia, they will be used to build infrastructure that reduces student exposure to extreme heat. In Thailand, Kakao Bank will sponsor an educational conference on global warming and encourage youth involvement in climate policy initiatives.
Kakao Bank CEO Yun Ho-young, center, poses for a commemorative photo with Kanetaka Sawako, right, lead of Unicef’s Asia-Pacific hub, and Cho Mi-jin, secretary general of the Korean Committee for Unicef, after signing a global partnership agreement on climate crisis response for future generations at the Unicef Korea office on July 28.
This pledge is part of Kakao Bank’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, which allocates about $1 million annually to international aid and climate projects. Last year, the bank contributed a similar amount to UNICEF for infrastructure development in Myanmar and Laos, including solar-powered schools and medical facilities, food security, and water access initiatives, as well as education programs in Malaysia and Thailand.
The partnership agreement was signed on Monday at UNICEF Korea’s office in Mapo District, Seoul.
“Kakao Bank is the only Korean company working with UNICEF on projects addressing the climate crisis,” said CEO Yun Ho-young. “We are dedicated to strengthening our social contributions to support vulnerable communities facing environmental challenges.”
UNICEF has highlighted the urgency of building climate resilience for children in the Global South, where rising temperatures and extreme weather pose increasing threats to health, education, and safety. Kakao Bank’s contribution is part of a growing number of private-sector efforts supporting this mission.
