Seongnam City held the '2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee' at Sanseong Nuri in City Hall on the 14th. Photo by Seongnam City
[Asia Economy (Seongnam) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province is promoting 59 carbon-neutral projects with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.
Seongnam City announced on the 16th that, according to the Carbon Neutrality Basic Act, it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 4.47 million tons in 2018 by 40%, or 1.79 million tons, by 2030.
One of the projects to achieve this is the construction of the Pangyo Tram on Seongnam Urban Railway Lines 1 and 2. The tram is an 'eco-friendly' streetcar that runs on rails on the road powered by electricity or hydrogen energy.
The city will invest a total of 593.2 billion KRW by 2029 to build trams on two sections: Line 1 from Pangyo Station to Moran Station to Seongnam Industrial Complex, 10.38 km, and Line 2 from Unjung-dong to Pangyo Station to Jeongja Station, 13.7 km.
Seongnam will also establish a premium Bus Rapid Transit system (S-BRT), which applies subway system principles to buses. By 2026, the city will invest 41.9 billion KRW to build an exclusive S-BRT road on the 10.2 km section from Bokjeong Station to Moran Station to Namhansanseong Entrance.
The aim is to improve the punctuality of bus departure and arrival times to subway levels, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by private car use.
In addition, the city is implementing projects such as supporting households to replace old boilers with eco-friendly low-NOx boilers (4,925 units) by providing 100,000 to 600,000 KRW per unit, and offering subsidies (varying by vehicle type) to buyers of eco-friendly vehicles (4,900 units).
To lead climate crisis response, one of the pledges of the 8th local government term, the city plans to establish a Carbon Neutral Support Center next year.
On the 14th, the city held a meeting of the 'Seongnam City 2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee' at Sanseong Nuri in City Hall, appointing 14 related officials and external experts as committee members. The appointed members will review and decide on carbon neutrality policies over the next two years.
Mayor Shin Sang-jin of Seongnam said, "Recently, global warming has caused climate change and unexpected natural disasters," and added, "Please become supporters so that Seongnam City can achieve carbon neutrality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero."
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