[INTERVIEW] Hooxi Partners seeks to turn emissions cuts into revenue

Hooxi Partners is a climate fintech company that helps businesses turn emissions reductions into carbon-credit revenue. In a recent interview, CEO Lee Haeng-youl said the company wants carbon to be treated as a balance-sheet asset rather than a cost. The firm has built Carbon AI to link emissions measurement, verification and trading, and is targeting growth in Korea, Southeast Asia and a Kosdaq listing in 2028.

Hooxi Partners consolidated its services this year under a platform called Carbon AI, which includes NET-Z, MRVC and Hooxi Connect.

The company has signed agreements with 272 bus operators and submitted electric bus projects representing about 1.8 million tons of potential emissions reductions.

Projects covering 450,000 tons have received government approval, and Hooxi said it was the first operator in Korea’s transport sector to win approval for an electric vehicle emissions reduction program.

Hooxi said it carried out a forward transaction with Hyundai Motor Securities under its future carbon credits model.

The company aims to list on the Kosdaq in 2028 and is targeting solar installations and heat pumps for its next stage of growth in Korea.

Published Sep 30, 2026 12:00 pm KST

Climate fintech firm eyes expansion amid tighter carbon rules, targets 2028 Kosdaq listing

Hooxi Partners CEO Lee Haeng-youl / Courtesy of Hooxi Partners

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions does not automatically generate revenue. Companies must first measure and verify the reductions, then have them recognized as carbon credits before they can sell them. For smaller businesses with limited staff and capital, navigating those steps can be difficult.

Hooxi Partners, a climate fintech company, was founded to help close that gap. Before establishing it in 2021, CEO Lee Haeng-youl saw an opportunity in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) market as environmental gains were difficult to measure, and businesses had few ways to turn them into financial value. He believed reliable emissions data could provide the basis for tradable carbon credits.

“For carbon reduction to be sustainable, those making the cuts must receive an economic reward. Telling companies to do it because it is the right thing will not work for long,” Lee said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. That idea is reflected in the company’s slogan, “We make money from carbon credits.”

Since founding the company, Lee has sought to change how businesses view carbon management. Many treat it as a compliance exercise, calculating emissions at year’s end, filing reports and purchasing credits to cover any shortfall. Under that approach, carbon remains a cost.

“We want to move carbon from a cost item to a manageable asset on the balance sheet,” he said. “Rather than looking at greenhouse gas emissions data once a year or quarter, companies should manage it continuously, like sales or inventory, and calculate in advance how much value an investment in emissions reduction equipment could generate in carbon credits.”

With that information, decisions to invest in equipment or upgrade existing facilities could move beyond the environmental team and become part of a company’s broader investment planning. Lee sees a particularly strong case for financial incentives among businesses that are not required to participate in Korea’s emissions trading system.

Hooxi Partners consolidated its services this year under a platform called Carbon AI. Its NET-Z module calculates and reports corporate emissions. Measurement, reporting, verification and creditization (MRVC) helps companies develop emissions reduction projects and obtain verification and certification. Hooxi Connect links project operators with companies and financial institutions seeking carbon credits or verified reductions.

The platform is designed to carry data through each stage, from measuring emissions to selling the carbon credits a project generates.

“The synergy comes from continuity of data,” Lee said. “Emissions calculated in NET-Z become the baseline for assessing reduction potential in MRVC, and reductions certified through MRVC become volumes available for trading on Hooxi Connect. This eliminates the cost of reorganizing and verifying data each time a project moves to the next stage.”

The company began in transport, focusing on electric buses. Lee noted that mileage and charging records make it possible to estimate emissions reductions compared with diesel vehicles, but individual bus operators often lack the resources to develop carbon credit projects on their own.

Hooxi Partners manages Korea’s first government-approved external project to turn emissions reductions from electric bus operations into carbon credits. Courtesy of Hooxi Partners

Hooxi Partners has signed agreements with 272 bus operators and submitted electric bus projects representing about 1.8 million tons of potential emissions reductions. Projects covering 450,000 tons have received government approval. The company said it was the first operator in Korea’s transport sector to win approval for an electric vehicle emissions reduction program.

“We demonstrated that the entire process works in practice by combining the reductions of small bus operators into one project, securing government approval and converting the results into carbon credits,” Lee said.

The company is also seeking to address a funding problem that can prevent such projects from getting started.

Emissions reduction investments such as introducing electric vehicles or upgrading facilities require upfront funding, while revenue from carbon credits may be years away. Under its “future carbon credits” model, a business can sell credits it expects to generate through a forward transaction and receive funding earlier.

The firm said it has carried out a forward transaction with Hyundai Motor Securities. The arrangement was featured as a case of Environmental Progress Credit (EPC), an incentive mechanism developed by the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies to reward climate technology developers early and encourage greater emissions reductions.

“Small and midsize businesses with limited financial resources may give up on emissions reduction investments because they cannot bridge that time gap,” Lee said. “Future carbon credits use finance to address that delay.”

Lee expects demand for emissions management to grow during the fourth phase of Korea’s emissions trading system, which began this year, and following the implementation of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Companies covered by the trading system will need to secure credits, while exporters will need product-level emissions data. Lee said demand for such data is extending to suppliers.

“We are working with Oriental Brewery and 15 of its suppliers to jointly measure and verify Scope 3 emissions, and demand for this kind of supply chain measurement, reporting and verification has been growing rapidly since CBAM,” Lee said.

For its next stage of growth in Korea, Hooxi Partners is targeting solar installations and heat pumps. Although each project may produce relatively modest reductions, the company believes combining many projects could create volumes large enough for a carbon credit program.

Overseas, Southeast Asia is its first priority. The company plans to work with local partners as the region adopts electric two-wheelers and buses and expands renewable energy. Its longer-term ambition is to connect emissions reduction projects abroad with demand from Korean companies.

The firm has also set a goal of listing on the Kosdaq in 2028.

“The listing is not an end in itself,” Lee said. “It would be a milestone showing that our carbon asset model has grown enough to be valued by the capital market.”

Korea aims to cut carbon emissions at int'l airports by 10% by 2030

Gov't to align emissions trading system with minimum reduction target to ease corporate burden

Greenhouse gas emission permits to trade like stocks starting this week

Korea finalizes goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 53-61% from 2018 level by 2035

Hooxi Partners是一家气候金融科技公司，致力于帮助企业将减排转化为碳信用收入。首席执行官李亨烈(Lee Haeng-youl)在最近的一次采访中表示，公司希望将碳排放视为资产而非成本。该公司已开发出Carbon AI平台，用于连接碳排放的测量、核查和交易，并计划在韩国和东南亚市场拓展业务，最终于2028年在韩国创业板(Kosdaq)上市。

Hooxi Partners 今年将其服务整合到一个名为 Carbon AI 的平台上，该平台包括 NET-Z、MRVC 和 Hooxi Connect。

该公司已与 272 家公交运营商签署协议，并提交了电动公交车项目，这些项目代表着约 180 万吨的潜在减排量。

涉及45万吨的项目已获得政府批准，Hooxi表示，它是韩国交通运输领域首家获得电动汽车减排计划批准的运营商。

Hooxi表示，已根据其未来碳信用额模式与现代汽车证券进行了远期交易。

该公司计划于 2028 年在韩国创业板上市，并将太阳能装置和热泵作为其在韩国下一阶段增长的目标。

发布于2026年9月30日韩国时间下午12:00

气候金融科技公司在碳排放规则日益严格的情况下寻求扩张，目标是2028年在韩国创业板上市。

Hooxi Partners首席执行官李亨佑 / 图片由Hooxi Partners提供

减少温室气体排放并不会自动产生收益。企业必须先测量并核实减排量，然后才能获得碳信用额度并出售。对于员工和资金有限的小型企业来说，完成这些步骤可能十分困难。

Hooxi Partners是一家气候金融科技公司，其成立旨在弥合这一差距。在2021年创立该公司之前，首席执行官李亨烈(Lee Haeng-youl)就看到了环境、社会和治理(ESG)市场的机遇：环境效益难以衡量，企业也鲜有途径将其转化为经济价值。他认为，可靠的排放数据可以为可交易的碳信用额度奠定基础。

李在最近接受《韩国时报》采访时表示：“要实现可持续的碳减排，减排者必须获得经济回报。仅仅告诉企业这样做是不对的，这种做法不会长久奏效。”这一理念也体现在公司的口号“我们靠碳信用额赚钱”中。

自公司创立以来，李一直致力于改变企业对碳管理的看法。许多企业将其视为一种合规行为，在年底计算排放量，提交报告，然后购买碳信用额度来弥补任何不足。在这种模式下，碳排放仍然是一种成本。

他说：“我们希望将碳排放从成本项目转变为资产负债表上可管理的资产。企业不应每年或每季度才查看一次温室气体排放数据，而应像管理销售或库存一样持续管理碳排放，并提前计算投资减排设备可以产生多少碳信用额度。”

有了这些信息，投资设备或升级现有设施的决策就可以不再局限于环境团队，而是纳入公司更广泛的投资规划之中。李认为，对于那些无需参与韩国碳排放交易体系的企业而言，提供财政激励措施尤为重要。

Hooxi Partners 今年将其服务整合到一个名为 Carbon AI 的平台下。其 NET-Z 模块可计算并报告企业排放量。测量、报告、核查和信用认证 (MRVC) 服务可帮助企业制定减排项目并获得核查和认证。Hooxi Connect 则将项目运营方与寻求碳信用额或已核查减排量的企业和金融机构联系起来。

该平台旨在传输各个阶段的数据，从测量排放量到出售项目产生的碳信用额。

李表示：“协同效应源于数据的连续性。NET-Z 计算出的排放量成为 MRVC 评估减排潜力的基准，而通过 MRVC 认证的减排量则成为 Hooxi Connect 上可交易的量。这省去了每次项目进入下一阶段时重新整理和验证数据的成本。”

该公司最初涉足交通运输领域，专注于电动巴士。李指出，里程和充电记录可以用来估算与柴油车相比的减排量，但单个巴士运营商往往缺乏资源自行开展碳信用项目。

Hooxi Partners负责管理韩国首个获得政府批准的外部项目，该项目旨在将电动公交车运营产生的减排量转化为碳信用额。图片由Hooxi Partners提供。

Hooxi Partners已与272家公交运营商签署协议，并提交了电动公交车项目，这些项目预计可减少约180万吨的排放量。其中，45万吨的项目已获得政府批准。该公司表示，它是韩国交通运输行业首家获得电动汽车减排项目批准的运营商。

李说：“我们通过将小型巴士运营商的减排工作合并到一个项目中，获得了政府的批准，并将结果转化为碳信用额，证明了整个过程在实践中是有效的。”

该公司还试图解决可能阻碍此类项目启动的资金问题。

诸如引进电动汽车或升级设施等减排投资需要前期资金投入，而碳信用额的收入可能要几年后才能到账。根据其“未来碳信用额”模式，企业可以通过远期交易出售预期产生的碳信用额，从而提前获得资金。

该公司表示已与现代汽车证券达成远期交易。该交易被视为环境进步信用（EPC）案例，EPC是由社会价值提升研究中心开发的一种激励机制，旨在奖励气候技术开发商的早期应用，并鼓励其加大减排力度。

李说：“资金有限的中小型企业可能会放弃减排投资，因为他们无法弥补时间上的差距。未来的碳信用额度利用融资来解决这一延迟问题。”

李预计，随着韩国碳排放交易体系第四阶段（始于今年）的实施以及欧盟碳边境调节机制（CBAM）的实施，对碳排放管理的需求将会增长。

参与该交易体系的企业需要获得碳信用额度，而出口商则需要产品层面的排放数据。李表示，对这类数据的需求正在扩展到供应商。

李说：“我们正在与东方啤酒及其 15 家供应商合作，共同测量和验证范围 3 的排放量。自 CBAM 以来，对这种供应链测量、报告和验证的需求一直在迅速增长。”

为了在韩国实现下一阶段的增长，Hooxi Partners 将目标瞄准了太阳能装置和热泵。尽管每个项目可能带来的减排量相对较小，但该公司认为，多个项目叠加起来可以产生足够大的减排量，从而符合碳信用计划的要求。

在海外市场，东南亚是其首要重点。随着该地区电动两轮车和公交车的普及以及可再生能源的推广，该公司计划与当地合作伙伴携手合作。其长远目标是将海外的减排项目与韩国企业的需求对接起来。

该公司还设定了在 2028 年在韩国创业板上市的目标。

李表示：“上市本身并不是最终目的。这将是一个里程碑，表明我们的碳资产模式已经发展到足以获得资本市场认可的程度。”

韩国的目标是到2030年将国际机场的碳排放量减少10%。

政府将调整排放交易体系，使其与最低减排目标相符，以减轻企业负担。

从本周开始，温室气体排放许可证可以像股票一样进行交易。

韩国最终确定到2035年将温室气体排放量比2018年水平降低53%至61%的目标。