Kim Sang-hyeop, Chairman of the Carbon Neutrality Green Growth Committee, is delivering the opening address at the "AI-based Green Digital Transformation Conference" held on April 29 at the Korea Science and Technology Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. 2024.4.29 [Photo by Yonhap News]
The Presidential 2050 Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Committee (CNGC) announced on the afternoon of the 20th that it held a "Conference for the Scientific and Rational Establishment of the 2035 National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Target (NDC)" at the Korea Science and Technology Center.
The Paris Agreement, signed by 195 countries including South Korea, requires all parties to submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are national greenhouse gas reduction targets, every five years. Each country must submit its 2035 NDC to the United Nations by 2025. The Korean government has been working on establishing greenhouse gas reduction targets since March by forming an expert technical working group, aiming to prepare a draft this year.
At the opening remarks, Kim Sang-hyup, co-chair of the CNGC, stated, "From 2030 to 2040, a radical global transition to a decarbonized structure is expected," adding, "The 2035 greenhouse gas reduction target is an important measure that will determine Korea's position in the carbon-neutral era." Jeong Eun-hae, head of the Greenhouse Gas Comprehensive Information Center at the Ministry of Environment, presented cases including the governance structure related to greenhouse gas reduction in the United States, which she recently visited and investigated, as well as analysis methods for reduction pathways by policy scenarios.
The first presenter, Professor Yoo Seung-jik of Sookmyung Women's University, explained the process and characteristics of setting South Korea's national greenhouse gas reduction targets and presented the results of performance analysis to date. Professor Yoo emphasized the need for an approach that considers the costs and uncertainties of future reduction technologies and measures when establishing the 2035 target.
Participants are taking a commemorative photo at the '2035 NDC Conference' held by the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee on the 20th. Photo by Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee
Professor Kim Seung-wan of Chungnam National University explained the methodologies for setting greenhouse gas reduction targets in the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, and Germany, suggesting that South Korea should comprehensively consider not only the existing bottom-up approach but also a top-down approach.
Jae-yoon Kim, manager of the Sustainability Growth Office at the Bank of Korea, emphasized the need for a well-linked national greenhouse gas reduction target and emissions trading system for effective reduction, and highlighted the necessity of technical and administrative support for the industry.
Kwon Kyung-rak, a policy activist from the nonprofit organization Plan 1.5, pointed out the limitations of the current greenhouse gas reduction target establishment method and stressed the need to establish principles to secure legitimacy. Cho Young-jun, director of the Sustainability Management Institute at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reported that in a survey conducted last February, 60% of responding companies said that pursuing carbon neutrality would positively impact their competitiveness, but proposed challenges such as support for reduction investments, supply of carbon-free energy, and rationalization of laws and systems.
In the policy discussion chaired by Ahn Young-hwan, a subcommittee chair of the CNGC, participants including Professor Koo Yoon-mo of Seoul National University, Research Fellow Yoon Yeo-chang of the Korea Development Institute, Research Fellow Lee Jae-yoon of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Choi Seon-du, head of the reduction target team at the Greenhouse Gas Comprehensive Information Center, and activist Noh Gun-woo from the youth organization 1.5 Degree Club discussed considerations for establishing the 2035 national greenhouse gas reduction target.
Chairman Kim Sang-hyup stated, "We will continue to provide opportunities for various stakeholders from academia, industry, finance, and civil society to voice their opinions for national carbon neutrality, and the CNGC will also do its part to ensure that a more coordinated and precise greenhouse gas reduction target is established."
Related materials such as conference presentation documents can be found on the CNGC website.
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