South Korea Slow in Transition to Eco-Friendly Energy... Ranked 49th Among 115 Countries

WEF Announces '2021 Energy Transition Index'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] South Korea's pace of energy transition was found to be slower compared to other countries.

According to the industry on the 16th, South Korea ranked 49th out of 115 countries in the recently released "2021 Energy Transition Index (ETI)" by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The ETI is a system developed to assess the readiness level for energy transition to eco-friendly energy, evaluating mainly system performance and energy transition readiness.

System performance reflects environmental sustainability, energy security and accessibility, economic development and growth potential, while energy transition readiness includes energy system structure, capital and investment, regulations and political commitments.

South Korea scored 60.8 points (system performance 63.3 points, energy transition readiness 58.3 points), a 0.3 point decrease from 61.1 points in 2012. Its ranking dropped 7 places from 42nd to 49th during this period. Among the top 50 countries, only Iceland, Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Paraguay showed a decline in ETI compared to 2012.

South Korea's ETI is higher than the overall average of 59.3 points but falls significantly short of the average 68.2 points of the 31 advanced countries classified by WEF, ranking 29th out of 31, near the bottom.

Most of the top 10 countries in the ETI are Western and Northern European nations, with Sweden ranked first for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Norway and Denmark in second and third place respectively.

Among the top 10 countries, those showing the greatest improvement over the past 10 years were Denmark (3rd), Finland (6th), and the United Kingdom (7th). This was analyzed to be due to government-level energy policies such as a stable regulatory environment, diverse energy mix, and energy pricing reflecting costs.

Meanwhile, Germany and the United States ranked 18th and 24th respectively, and Japan was placed in the middle tier at 37th.