Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Chungnam Join Hands to Improve Air Quality in the West Coast Area with 58.8 Billion Won Investment Over 5 Years

Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun, Chungnam Governor Yang Seung-jo, and Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung are taking a commemorative photo after signing the 'West Coast Super Metropolitan Area Cooperation Air Quality Improvement Project Agreement' with related organizations at Chungnam Provincial Office on February 26. 2021.2.26 Photo by Incheon City

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City, Gyeonggi Province, and Chungcheongnam-do will invest 58.8 billion KRW over five years to jointly respond to improve air pollution along the West Coast.

Incheon Mayor Park Namchun, Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, Chungnam Governor Yang Seung-jo, and Kim Sa-yeol, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development, signed a joint cooperation agreement for the "West Coast Ultra-wide Area Air Quality Improvement Project" at Chungnam Provincial Office on the 26th of last month.

Selected as an ultra-wide area cooperation project by the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development, this project will use a budget of approximately 58.8 billion KRW from this year until 2025 to promote air quality improvement in the West Coast areas of Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Chungnam.

According to the agreement, the three local governments plan to jointly discover and implement air quality improvement projects reflecting the characteristics of the West Coast region, including integrated air quality monitoring of the West Coast area and preparing measures to investigate the health impacts on vulnerable groups.

These cities have large-scale environmental pollution emission facilities concentrated in ports, industrial complexes, thermal power plants, and the Seoul Metropolitan Landfill Site, with emissions of air pollutants approaching one-third of the national total.

Therefore, it is crucial to establish an ultra-wide area air quality improvement system across regional boundaries in the West Coast area and cooperate in discovering joint improvement projects. Accordingly, by May, the three cities and provinces will conduct planning and research on air quality improvement projects together with their research institutes to analyze the current status of the West Coast region and identify detailed projects by promotion strategy to carry out air quality improvement projects until 2025.

In particular, Incheon, which is promoting the transition to a carbon-neutral city through the "Green New Deal," plans to accelerate its eco-friendly resource circulation efforts through this agreement. The Green New Deal aims to increase the use of renewable energy by more than 22% by 2030 and establish a resource circulation system by ending the Seoul Metropolitan Landfill Site by 2025. It involves an investment of 5.6 trillion KRW and aims to create 58,000 jobs.

At the signing ceremony, Incheon Mayor Park Namchun said, "About 40% of South Korea's total population is concentrated in Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Chungnam, which border the West Coast," adding, "This large population suffers from fine dust originating from China and fine dust generated by national infrastructure such as ports."

He continued, "The three cities and provinces must work together to lead the '2050 Carbon Neutrality' initiative in line with the central government's policy will," emphasizing, "We need to shift the energy production system centered on thermal power plants to a power generation system using eco-friendly and low-carbon energy sources, expand urban forests, and increase carbon sinks such as restoring marine and tidal flat ecosystems."