Promise to Practice 'Carbon Neutrality'... Busan City Joins UN Climate Change Convention's 'Race To Zero' Campaign

Over 700 Cities and 1,000 Companies Worldwide Join 2050 Carbon Neutrality Campaign

Busan Declares Itself a 'Green Smart' City to the International Community, Elevating Status as Host of 'COP 28'

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City (Mayor Park Hyung-joon) will participate in the 'Race To Zero' campaign currently underway in the United Kingdom, the host country of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) scheduled for November.

This is an international campaign led by the United Nations, in which various entities such as local governments and companies around the world announce their goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and pledge to implement it.

Currently, over 700 cities and 1,000 companies, including London in the UK, Washington DC in the USA, Bonn in Germany, and Tokyo in Japan, are participating. In South Korea, Seoul and Chuncheon are involved.

On the 28th of last month, Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon was encouraged to join the Race To Zero campaign during a meeting with Simon Smith, the British Ambassador to Korea, and expressed his intention to participate.

Mayor Park said, “Busan City's policy vision is ‘Green Smart City Busan,’ and carbon neutrality and climate change response are among the most important policies for Busan City,” promising to participate.

Cities joining the campaign must pledge and implement ▲ the spread of eco-friendly lifestyles ▲ transition to eco-friendly fuels ▲ dissemination of carbon-zero buildings ▲ production of clean energy. They also disclose their carbon neutrality implementation results domestically and internationally every year and share best practices.

Busan City expects this campaign to help attract the ‘28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28)’ to be held in Busan in 2023.

Through the campaign, the city plans to raise the status of Busan as a ‘Green Smart City’ both domestically and internationally and widely promote itself as the optimal location for hosting the conference.

Mayor Park Hyung-joon said, “I hope this campaign will serve as an opportunity to widely announce our city's commitment to realizing carbon neutrality by 2050,” adding, “We will strive to lead regionally driven carbon neutrality and advance as a Green Smart City.”