President Lee: "Electricity Rates Inevitably Rise as Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Are Met"

Lee Kyuyeon, Chief of Public Relations and Communication at the Presidential Office, is taking questions from the press after a briefing related to the Chief Secretary and Aide Meeting presided over by President Lee Jae Myung on the 14th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On August 14, President Lee Jae Myung stated, "As we strive to achieve our greenhouse gas reduction targets, electricity rates are inevitably bound to rise," adding, "We must proactively inform the public about this and seek their understanding and consent."

According to Lee Kyuyeon, Chief of Public Relations and Communication at the Presidential Office, President Lee made these remarks while presiding over the Chief Secretary and Aide Meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office on this day. He received a report on the preparations for the 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and reviewed key details. The government is currently required to submit its 2035 targets to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as part of its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In this process, the President acknowledged that reducing reliance on cheap coal-fired power generation will inevitably lead to higher electricity rates.

President Lee emphasized, "Since our country has declared and legislated carbon neutrality by 2050, we must set our 2035 targets in line with achieving this goal." He further stated, "Environmental and economic issues cannot be separated," and urged, "Turn the climate crisis into an opportunity for growth." In particular, President Lee reportedly instructed, "Since this is a path we must take, we should actively respond to the climate crisis," and directed officials to "devise ways to dramatically increase renewable energy production to achieve our reduction targets."

In relation to this, Chief Lee elaborated, "As we raise our greenhouse gas reduction targets, there will inevitably be upward pressure on electricity rates, so we need to closely monitor the impact on vulnerable groups." He continued, "Looking at the direction advanced countries are taking, greenhouse gas reduction is fundamentally unavoidable," and added, "We must rapidly expand renewable energy to minimize the impact as much as possible."

However, when asked when the increase in electricity rates would actually take place, Chief Lee responded, "It is premature to say that we will raise electricity rates immediately or to specify when such an increase will occur."