South Korea and Climate

By Isabelle Gerretsen President Moon Jae-in has announced South Korea will commit to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, turning an election promise into a policy pledge. “Together with the international community, we will actively respond to climate change and aim for carbon neutrality by 2050,” he said in a speech to parliament on Wednesday — reaffirming plans for a Green New Deal that voters overwhelmingly backed in April. “By replacing coal power generation with renewable energy, we will create new markets and industries and create jobs,” he said. Moon’s announcement came two days after Japan committed to the 2050 net zero target and said it would rethink its reliance on coal. Last month, China stunned the world when it pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. “The recent announcements from Japan and China have definitely put pressure on Korea to announce a target year for carbon neutrality,” Joojin Kim, managing director of South Korean campaign group Solutions For Our Climate, told Climate Home News. Analysis: Who will build the world’s last coal plant? In July, Moon presented plans for a $37 billion Green New Deal aimed at boosting green infrastructure, clean energy and electric vehicles by 2025. On Wednesday, he announced a further $7 billion spending on carbon-cutting measures. “We are replacing old buildings and public rental housing with eco-friendly facilities and investing 2.4 trillion [korean won] in the green transition for urban spaces and daily infrastructure,” Moon said. As part of its Green New Deal, South Korea aims to have 1.13 million electric and 200,000 hydrogen vehicles on the roads by 2025. Moon’s announcement coincided with a visit from Cop26 president-designate and UK business and energy minister Alok Sharma. Sharma said in a tweet President Moon’s announcement followed a “very productive 72 hours of meetings with govt ministers, parliamentarians, businesses & international organisations”. As figurehead for the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, UK next November, Sharma is seeking to mobilise higher climate ambition from other governments.