Mayor Oh Se-hoon Elected as C40 Steering Committee Member

Elected as Representative Operating Committee Member for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 8th that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was elected as an operating committee member representing the region and Vice Chair of C40 by securing a majority vote in the election held from January 5 to 12.

The C40 Operating Committee (Vice Chair) plays a strategic supervisory role in carrying out C40’s mission and is elected by votes from the mayors of C40 member cities. The operating committee consists of 16 members in total: one C40 Chair (Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London), 13 mayors of major cities from six regions including Europe, North America, and Latin America, and two mayors from innovative cities with populations under 3 million.

A city official stated that although Mayor Oh was elected and served as a C40 operating committee member from 2008 to 2020, this recent election holds special significance. Unlike in the past, he did not run as the sole candidate; Sally Capp, Mayor of Melbourne, Australia, also ran and competed against Mayor Oh. Additionally, since the Mayor of Tokyo in East Asia was already serving as an operating committee member, it was expected to be disadvantageous in terms of regional balance. Nevertheless, Mayor Oh was elected as a C40 operating committee member by securing a majority vote from 10 mayors with voting rights in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

Meanwhile, the C40 operating committee position is a qualification granted to the mayor personally, not the city. This election is considered a positive evaluation of Mayor Oh’s leadership, who contributed to cooperation and solidarity among mayors for climate change response since Seoul joined C40 in 2006 during his previous term as mayor, and hosted the 3rd C40 Summit in May 2009.

Moreover, Seoul has actively continued its C40 activities by participating in the 'Public Transport Global Coalition C40 Mayors Statement' in June 2021 and other events last October.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon plans to officially begin his role as a C40 operating committee member by attending the C40 operating committee meeting held virtually on February 16. Through this meeting, he will receive updates on C40’s 2022 support projects for developing country cities, achievements in improving air quality and creating green jobs in C40 member cities, and discuss climate action policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in C40 cities this year, as well as support directions for C40 mayors’ leadership.

In particular, Mayor Oh intends to use his election as a C40 operating committee member as an opportunity to widely promote policies for accompanying climate-vulnerable groups through C40 activities, share his administrative experience accumulated as a four-term elected mayor with C40 cities, and actively cooperate with C40 cities to respond to the climate crisis.

Lee In-geun, Director of Seoul’s Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “The election of the Seoul Mayor as a C40 operating committee member and Vice Chair is a stepping stone for Seoul to demonstrate climate and environmental leadership and for the international community, including Seoul, to achieve the 2050 carbon neutrality goal.” He added, “The Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters is preparing to establish climate crisis adaptation measures by June and is exploring ways to contribute to climate crisis response through international cooperation while continuing existing projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”