South Korea pushes the "3+1" strategy to aim at carbon neutrality.
Bai Yunfei, a reporter based in Seoul
Reporter
Photo by Bai Yunfei
In the past six months, the term "carbon neutral" has been frequently mentioned in South Korea.
Last October, South Korean President Moon Jae-in mentioned South Korea’s 2050 emission reduction target for the first time in his policy speech.
In November of the same year, Moon Jae-in reiterated the importance of carbon neutrality when attending the G20 Leaders Summit.
In December of the same year, South Korea issued the "2050 Carbon Neutrality Declaration."
Recently, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea issued the "Republic of Korea's Carbon Neutral 3+1 Strategy", which represents that in order to promote carbon neutrality by 2050, South Korea has implemented it in relevant functional departments and proposed specific measures.
South Korea's promotion of its carbon neutral strategy is not only driven by the international environment, but also has an inherent motivation to solve domestic environmental problems.
Before and after the change of the US government, many South Korean think tanks included climate change cooperation into their research reports.
The political and academic circles in South Korea generally believe that the issue of carbon neutrality will usher in an opportunity for international cooperation.
In addition, South Korea still has many environmental issues to be resolved.
For example, 12 of South Korea’s 13 pillar industries are industries and need to be reduced; thermal power is still the main force in power supply, and more than half of the country’s thermal power plants are clustered along the west coast, which has the problem of concentrated emissions; SUVs, trucks, and large-scale Most vehicles use diesel, and exhaust pollution needs to be further reduced; the per capita consumption of plastics is huge and ranks among the top in the world.
In this context, the "Republic of Korea Carbon Neutral 3+1 Strategy" came into being.
The so-called "3+1" refers to the three major initiatives of low-carbon economic structure, building a new low-carbon industrial ecosystem, and building a fair and just low-carbon society, and strengthening the institutional foundation for carbon neutrality.
The low-carbonization of the economic structure is mainly to promote the reduction of the use of fossil fuels and the promotion of the application of renewable energy.
Ensure that renewable energy is fully delivered and reduce consumption.
Introduce a decentralized energy supply system to realize the independent supply of energy in various regions.
At the same time, promote the transformation of the industrial structure to low-carbon, promote the promotion of electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered vehicles, increase the area of green vegetation, promote the low-carbonization of new buildings, flexibly improve the environmental protection level of existing buildings, and promote low-carbonization at the level of national land planning.
To build an ecosystem of emerging low-carbon industries, first, cultivate emerging low-carbon industries, such as a new generation of environmentally friendly car batteries, hydrogen energy industry, etc., and seize opportunities in the low-carbon semiconductor market.
Second, cultivate a group of companies with carbon capture technology, nurture green service industries, improve energy efficiency, and establish a greenhouse gas analysis and management system.
Third, set up 11 pilot projects, relax regulations, and cultivate a group of low-carbon start-ups and unicorn companies.
Finally, build a sustainable production and consumption system, delineate the utilization rate of renewable energy in various industries, enrich the environmental information labels of products, and increase the utilization rate of recyclable waste.
How to strengthen the carbon neutral system foundation?
The South Korean government is prepared to improve the relevant fiscal system; the second is to create "green finance" to provide financial support for the environmental protection industry and the traditional industries that are transforming into low-carbon industries, and to guide private capital into green industries and strengthen supervision; and the third is to strengthen the supervision of emerging industries. Support for low-carbon technologies.
Huang Jaehao, director of the Korea Institute for Global Strategic Cooperation, said that Korea has a high fossil fuel utilization rate and its industrial structure is dominated by manufacturing.
In the past 30 years, the average temperature in South Korea has risen by 1.4 degrees Celsius.
The importance of carbon neutrality to Korea is increasing day by day.
Huang Jae-ho believes that in order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, South Korea must strengthen international cooperation while making its own efforts.
First of all, relevant cooperation is of great significance to China-South Korea relations.
At the end of last year, China and South Korea agreed to establish a committee for the future development of China-South Korea relations, taking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 2022 as an opportunity to plan a blueprint for the development of China-South Korea relations in the next 30 years.
Climate change cooperation can be an integral part of it.
Secondly, relevant cooperation can provide impetus and opportunities for the development of relations between China, Japan and South Korea.
Finally, on the issue of climate change, South Korea will be able to provide support to developing countries within its capacity in the future.
Reporter Bai Yunfei in Seoul
Reporter Bai Yunfei in Seoul