Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungnam Province, Attends 'Coal Phase-Out Alliance Summit' as Asia Representative

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungnam Province, attended the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) summit as a representative of Asian local governments. At this event, Governor Yang introduced Chungnam’s coal phase-out policies to alliance members.

On the 4th, Chungnam Province announced that Governor Yang participated as an Asian representative panelist in the PPCA summit session titled “Carbon Neutral Race Opportunities ? Perspectives from Europe and Asia.”

The summit was co-hosted by the Danish government and the Bloomberg Philanthropies. The panel discussion took place following the summit, during which Governor Yang presented the background and challenges of Chungnam’s coal phase-out policy.

First, Governor Yang highlighted that half of South Korea’s 60 operating coal-fired power plants are located in Chungnam, resulting in the region accounting for 22% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, emphasizing the necessity of coal phase-out in Chungnam.

He also stressed efforts to achieve coal phase-out goals by establishing cooperative systems with power companies and the central government.

Most importantly, Governor Yang stated, “Chungnam declared carbon neutrality one year ahead of the government and was the first to establish and propose a Green New Deal implementation plan to the government. Chungnam’s advanced efforts influenced the enactment of the ‘Special Act on New Deal Policies for a Just Transition to a Decarbonized Society’ and the ‘Good Local Government Treasury Selection Act.’”

Behind the coal phase-out goals, he presented challenges that the province must address, including ▲ job losses and occupational transitions for related workers ▲ economic downturn due to crises in key local industries ▲ the emerging need to build eco-friendly power plants to replace coal-fired plants.

Among these, to resolve job issues, he emphasized focusing on fostering large-scale renewable energy industries, attracting public institutions, and establishing regional future industry development plans to support occupational transitions, entrepreneurship, and job succession programs for workers.

Governor Yang concluded, “Carbon neutrality is a global imperative and a mission of our time. Chungnam will take a leading role in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 through international cooperation and collaboration with local residents, the provincial council, and civic organizations.”