On May 23, Gwangju Namgu District announced that it will become the first local district in the region to pilot the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Budget Awareness System.
Namgu will begin piloting the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Budget Awareness System this year to analyze the impact of local finances on climate change and to reflect these findings in the management of local finances. This system involves analyzing the extent to which each project contributes to greenhouse gas reduction during the budget planning stage and incorporating the results into the budgeting process.
In order to actively respond to climate change, the district will allocate additional funds to projects that are effective in reducing greenhouse gases, while minimizing the budget for projects that emit greenhouse gases.
After establishing an ordinance for the operation of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Budget Awareness System in November 2024, Namgu included the relevant budget in its 2025 main budget.
This year, the scale of the greenhouse gas reduction-aware budget is approximately 15.3 billion KRW, which is about 2.5% of Namgu’s total budget of 620.4 billion KRW (based on the main budget).
During the budget planning process, Namgu classified all projects that impact greenhouse gas reduction or emissions into four categories: reduction projects, emission projects, mixed projects, and neutral projects.
Among the total of 994 projects promoted by the district office, 46 were identified as greenhouse gas reduction projects, such as the New and Renewable Energy Convergence Support Project and the Eco-friendly School Meal Support Project. The combined total of emission projects and mixed projects was 40.
The remaining projects were classified as neutral projects, which are unrelated to greenhouse gas reduction or emissions.
In addition, Namgu conducted an analysis of the greenhouse gas reduction effects for the 46 reduction projects. The analysis showed that an investment of 6.6 billion KRW from local finances would result in a reduction of approximately 1,218 tons of greenhouse gases, a meaningful outcome.
A Namgu official stated, "Through this pilot operation, we will address any shortcomings in the system and plan to fully implement the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Budget Awareness System starting in 2026. Although the proportion of the greenhouse gas reduction-aware budget is currently small compared to the total budget, we plan to gradually increase this proportion and thereby expand the reduction effect over time."
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