On the 4th, Seoul Special City Seongdong-gu Enacts and Promulgates Ordinance to Promote Use of Eco-Friendly Vehicles...Up to 1 Million Won Support for Eco-Friendly Vehicle Purchase, Parking Fee Reduction, and Priority Purchase by Public Institutions
[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) enacted and promulgated the Seoul Special City Seongdong-gu Ordinance on the Promotion of Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Use (hereinafter referred to as the Ordinance) on the 4th, initiating efforts to improve air quality and promote the use of environmentally friendly vehicles.
The Ordinance stipulates the establishment of plans to promote the use of environmentally friendly vehicles along with specific implementation measures.
The main points include providing certain subsidies when purchasing electric vehicles and hydrogen electric vehicles, mandating that public institutions purchase or lease environmentally friendly vehicles for shared or business use, and allowing fee reductions at public and affiliated parking lots as well as parking lots operated by institutions funded or supported by the district.
Accordingly, residents aged 18 or older with an address in Seongdong-gu will be able to receive up to 1 million KRW on a first-come, first-served basis within the budget scope through a separate announcement detailing the specifics starting next year.
The district has steadily built eco-friendly vehicle infrastructure by installing a total of 139 outlet-type electric vehicle chargers in all public (indoor) parking lots from last year through this year (October 2021), the first in Seoul.
Additionally, by actively encouraging private sector participation, the number of electric vehicles increased by 101% from 586 in 2019 to 1,181 as of the end of July 2021, and the number of chargers increased by 350% from 114 to 513 during the same period.
Since air pollutants emitted from vehicles account for about 26% of the sources of fine dust, a significant proportion, the district has actively prepared plans to expand the supply of environmentally friendly vehicles, which reduce greenhouse gases by 2 tons annually per electric vehicle.
As the Green Mobility sector (promotion of eco-friendly future vehicles) is being significantly pursued within the Green New Deal policy centered on carbon neutrality focusing on the environment and people, starting in 2022, the district plans to actively support vehicle purchase costs by allocating its own budget in addition to national and city subsidies.
Earlier, after joining the Carbon Neutral Local Government Action Alliance in July last year, the district has been leading environmental preservation by promoting various projects such as "Protecting the Earth's Temperature at 1.5 degrees Celsius" and the "Seongdong-type Green New Deal Project" to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, "With the enactment of this ordinance, we have opened a door toward becoming a carbon-neutral city by 2050 by expanding the use of eco-friendly vehicles," and added, "We will continue to actively promote various climate crisis response measures suitable for our district's conditions along with eco-friendly policies that residents can feel."
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