Gwangmyeong City Expands and Restructures Citizen-Participatory Environmental Campaign "Climate Militia Carbon Savings Bank"

Action-Based Reorganization: School Uniform Bank, Public Bicycles, Walking, and More
Up to 100,000 Won in Local Currency Awarded Annually Based on Participation

Gwangmyeong City in Gyeonggi Province is expanding and reorganizing its citizen-participatory environmental campaign, the "Climate Militia Carbon Savings Bank" project.

On January 8, Gwangmyeong City announced that starting from January 15, it will increase the number of action items for the "Climate Militia Carbon Savings Bank" project and restructure it to focus on action-based participation.

The "Climate Militia Carbon Savings Bank" is a citizen-participatory initiative in which residents can certify their daily carbon-neutral practices and accumulate points, which can be redeemed for up to 100,000 won per year in Gwangmyeong Love Local Currency.

Through this reorganization, the city has expanded the number of action items from 19 across 6 categories last year to 24 across 5 categories this year. The city explained that the reorganization moves away from a participation structure centered on raising awareness of the climate crisis, and instead focuses on action-based participation with clearer effects on greenhouse gas reduction.

Newly added action items include: ▲ Using the school uniform bank ▲ Donating 'conscience parasols' ▲ Walking more than 8,000 steps ▲ Using the public bicycle "Gwangmyeongi" (over 5 km) ▲ Joining the Ministry of Environment’s Carbon Neutrality Point (Energy) program ▲ Participating in the Ministry of Environment’s Carbon Neutrality Point (Automobile) program, among others.

Existing accessible daily action items such as ▲ Separating recyclables ▲ Using tumblers ▲ Using reusable shopping bags will be maintained, while the "using stairs" item has been changed to "walking."

Participation has also been made more convenient. The public bicycle "Gwangmyeongi" app and the walking app "WalkOn" are now linked to the Carbon Savings Bank, so actions are automatically recognized without a separate certification process. However, for the walking item, automatic linkage to the Carbon Savings Bank is only available after installing the "WalkOn" app and joining the "Gwangmyeong City Official Community."

The city has also improved some policies to encourage continuous and voluntary participation, including: ▲ Incentive donations to support vulnerable groups in responding to climate change ▲ Allowing continued certification of actions even after reaching the monthly accumulation limit ▲ Providing rewards for top participants based on participation rankings.

Mayor Park Seungwon of Gwangmyeong City stated, "Carbon neutrality is not a grand slogan, but a change that is achieved through daily actions by citizens," adding, "Every act of walking, sharing, and saving will become a sustainable asset for Gwangmyeong’s future generations. Together with citizens, we will steadily build up climate action."

According to the city, as of the end of last year, the cumulative number of Climate Militia members stood at approximately 16,400. The number of certified carbon-neutral actions reached about 1.26 million, and greenhouse gas reductions totaled 346 tons. This is equivalent to planting about 96,000 ten-year-old trees.