Ulsan Office of Education Joins the 'Coal Phase-Out Policy'

1.7 Trillion KRW 'Ulsan Education Fund' Designation Evaluation Includes Coal Phase-Out Criteria

Status of Designated Treasury Banks and Treasury Scale of Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education Nationwide. Photo by Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hong Jeonghwan] The Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education has decided to designate a 'coal divestment bank' as the financial institution handling the education treasury operations.

A coal divestment bank is a bank that has publicly declared it will not invest in coal power plants and related industries, which are the main sources of fine dust, or has announced plans to halt investments in coal power generation.

The Office of Education plans to revise the 'Regulations on the Designation and Operation of the Special Account for Education Expenses of Ulsan Metropolitan City' to establish a coal divestment item in the evaluation criteria and scoring standards for treasury designation.

The treasury market is a core business area for domestic banks. The size of the domestic treasury market was 341 trillion KRW based on the integrated accounting of local governments nationwide in 2019, and when including affiliated organizations and funded institutions under local governments, it amounts to 453 trillion KRW. Among these, the treasury market size of metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide is 70.596 trillion KRW, and the Ulsan Office of Education's budget is 1.7672 trillion KRW.

If the public sector continues to declare the designation of coal divestment banks, the coal divestment policy aimed at reducing coal-fired power generation, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, at an early stage is expected to gain momentum.