[Exclusive] Professor Yoon Soon-jin Appointed as the First Private Chairman of the Carbon Neutrality Committee

Appointing an Academic Expert in Environmental Field as Head of the '2050 Carbon Neutrality' Policy Control Tower

Professor Yoon Soon-jin, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporters Haeyoung Kwon and Sunhee Son] It has been confirmed that Professor Yoon Soon-jin of Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies (pictured) has been virtually appointed as the first private co-chairman of the presidential '2050 Carbon Neutrality Committee (tentative name)' set to launch next month. There has been considerable interest not only from the government but also from related industries about who would lead the carbon neutrality control tower, and an academic figure in the environmental field has been finally selected.

According to multiple government officials on the 20th, the Office for Government Policy Coordination is accelerating preparations for the committee's launch by appointing Professor Yoon as the private co-chairman to lead the Carbon Neutrality Committee alongside the next Prime Minister.

Professor Yoon is also known as a scholar who has long been interested in climate change and has advocated the necessity of 'energy transition.' His appointment as private co-chairman appears to reflect, above all, his high level of understanding of the current administration's policy direction. Professor Yoon opposed the Four Major Rivers Project implemented by previous administrations and holds a positive stance on the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy. In 2010, during the Lee Myung-bak administration, he served as an executive member of the 'National Signature Campaign Headquarters for a Full Review of the Four Major Rivers Project.'

During former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's tenure, he served as a member of the Seoul Green Citizens Committee and currently chairs the Sustainable Development Committee under the Ministry of Environment. His name has been mentioned not only as a candidate for Minister of Environment but also recently as a potential vice minister for energy in the newly established Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Earlier, in 2014, he served as an academic advisor to Cho Min, daughter of former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, while she was enrolled at Seoul National University Graduate School of Environmental Studies.

The Carbon Neutrality Committee is scheduled to officially launch after Kim Boo-kyum, the nominee for Prime Minister, is confirmed by the National Assembly and formally takes office next month. The committee's establishment was promoted after President Moon Jae-in directly instructed in November last year to "establish a pan-governmental promotion system" in response to criticism that the government's '2050 Carbon Neutrality Strategy' was disorganized due to the absence of a control tower.