Minister Cho Myung-rae Holds Luncheon Meeting on the 6th
"Reviewing Last Year's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Trends"
"Exploring Measures to Promote Green Transformation of the Korean Economy"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae declared on the 6th, "We will make this year the first year to reduce the absolute amount of greenhouse gas emissions," and added, "We will explore all policy measures to simultaneously achieve economic growth and greenhouse gas reduction."
Minister Cho stated this during a luncheon meeting held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, expressing his determination by saying, "Greenhouse gas reduction and climate change response will no longer be marginal topics but will become mainstream issues in our society."
He also conveyed, "Although it is not official statistics, after reviewing various internal data, we understand that greenhouse gas emissions entered a declining trend last year."
Minister Cho announced that he will revise the emissions trading system to become a practical tool for reducing greenhouse gases and actively persuade as many local governments as possible to declare carbon neutrality.
The Ministry of Environment plans to establish the '2050 Long-term Low Carbon Development Strategy' within this year and submit it to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Based on the review plan derived from the recent '2050 Low Carbon Society Vision Forum,' the government will prepare a proposal through procedures such as public opinion gathering and inter-governmental consultations.
Additionally, the Ministry aims to use the 2nd P4G Summit, to be held in Korea this June, as an opportunity to highlight the importance of climate change response. Minister Cho said, "Above all, the president's will is strong," and predicted, "Green New Deal, green industry, and green finance will become important policy topics."
The Ministry of Environment plans to form an inter-ministerial task force (TF) team to promote climate finance (green finance). Climate finance refers to the 'decarbonization of finance.' A representative example is Goldman Sachs' announcement last December to stop investing in fossil fuels.
According to the international NGO gofossilfree, as of last month, 1,181 investment institutions have decided to stop fossil fuel-related investments amounting to approximately 14 trillion dollars.
Minister Cho stated, "We are devising ways to promote the greening of the Korean economy through green finance," and added, "We plan to create a TF involving not only the Ministry of Environment but also the Financial Services Commission, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and other ministries."
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