Opposition Climate Action Lawmakers Take Action: "Fossil Fuel Subsidy Programs Must Be Cut"

Emergency Press Conference by Climate Action Assembly Group
Demand for Full Cut of Daewang Whale Investment Project
Increase Budget by 500 Billion Won for Public Building Green Remodeling and More

The Democratic Party of Korea's Climate Action Parliamentary Group "Emergency" on the 4th called for the complete elimination of the budget related to the investment in the development project of the deep-sea gas field in the East Sea, the "Daewanggorae" exploration and drilling support oil field development project. While demanding cuts to fossil fuel support projects, they argued that budgets related to building decarbonization support, energy efficiency, and the expansion of renewable energy distribution should be increased during the National Assembly review process.

Members of Emergency held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the same day to announce the selection of "Key Budgets for Climate Response in 2025." In this regard, Emergency designated fossil fuel support projects as "climate villains." Specifically, they demanded a full cut of KRW 50.5 billion for the Daewanggorae drilling and exploration investment project budget, KRW 1.7 billion for support budgets for domestic anthracite coal power plants, and KRW 32.2 billion for subsidy projects related to coal usage stabilization measures that encourage coal use.

Provided by the Climate Action Parliamentary Group 'Bisang'

Conversely, they requested an increase of KRW 914.9 billion in budgets for 13 projects designated as "climate heroes," including building decarbonization, energy efficiency, renewable energy distribution, electric vehicle expansion, grid connection issue mitigation, water management projects, expanded regulations on disposable products, and research and development (R&D).

The project with the largest requested budget increase was the "Public Building Green Remodeling" project, for which the government requested an increase of KRW 500 billion. Additionally, to promote electric vehicle distribution, they proposed increasing the budget for the "Zero-Emission Distribution Project" by KRW 200 billion. They also advocated for increased budgets for the used battery ESS support project and the heat pump support project for small business owners.

Park Jeong-hyun, a Democratic Party lawmaker who hosted the press conference, stated, "From now on, we plan not only to express opinions on the submitted budgets but also to demand essential projects for climate response from the government."