 Climate Change Ambassador Chung Rae-kwon says high oil prices could be a blessing to the environment as more people will leave their cars parked at home. |
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Skyrocketing oil prices are not necessarily bad; in fact they are a great opportunity for people to understand climate change and make a move against it, Chung Rae-kwon, Climate Change Ambassador, said.
``Take trains! Walk and recycle your stuff! It is the perfect time for us to change!'' he said. ``I know that the price tags make low-incomers depressed, but everything has two sides,'' the newly appointed ambassador for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
``Before, we used too much. Think about all the gasoline used in driving cars. Now the oil price is so high, it's time we leave our cars home and use public transportation.''
Chung stressed that climate change is all about a change in lifestyle ― making it more environmentally friendly and ecologically efficient.
``In the past, we focused on the quantity of development. It was all about who made an increase in gross domestic product. But now we must think about the quality ― how we can make progress and how we could effectively share it in other fields.''
He pointed out that seeking external growth broke the balance in human society.
``Asia and the Pacific region marked dramatic economic progress, but still two-thirds of the low-incomers are here; the population density is 1.5 times the average and still it takes up 34 percent of carbon emissions in the world,'' he said.
He said the world is now in danger. ``About 600 million are in need of safe drinking water; 1.9 billion suffer from lack of hygienic infrastructure and 800 million do not benefit have electricity.''
Now that even limited energy resources are running out, the goal is tougher than ever: how can we deal with climate change, resource shortages and social inequality? Moreover, how can we halve the amount of greenhouse gas emissions to that of the 1990's by 2050 as a post-Annex 1 country without damaging the economy?
Chung finds the answer in reducing energy consumption in daily lives and raising efficiency. ``It sounds so naive, so obvious and lame; some of you might think that a magic wand needs to be waved for sustainable development. But no country has ever made great economic development after adopting sustainable development. Yet this is still the best way'' he said.
He took Japan as an ideal model. ``With a certain amount of resources, Japan manages to double the GDP growth of North America. Europeans are slightly less than Japan but still lead America by 150 percent. Korea? We are worse than the United States,'' he said.
Chung praised Japan for streamlining the country with trains and public transportation in the early days. ``People travel on trains to the outskirts. However, is there a train taking you to Yongin, Gyeonggi Province?''
He said the public acceptance of climate change and the price we have to pay for it is quite low here. The government's policies to shoulder ordinary citizens' responsibilities for the cutoff is not working out so well, he added.
He took Seoul city government's attempt to levy congestion charges on crowded areas of central Seoul such as department stores as a great attempt but failed response. There was rising criticism that people did not want to pay such large amounts of money to go shopping and the government dropped the plan soon after.
``Ken Livingston, Mayor of London adopted congestion charges in 2003 despite media attacks. But he pushed forward to make it a big success. A year after many people turned their backs on him, he was reelected for the position,'' he said. ``But who dares to do that here?''' Chung sighed.
He urged people to understand that climate change is important for the country's future. According to the Stern Report published in 2006 on the effect of climate change and global warming on the world economy, each nation needs to invest one percent of its GDP per annum in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change. If not, the world could risk global GDP being up to twenty percent lower than it otherwise might be, it says.
``Let's not get too scared though,'' he said. ``We won't have to uch sacrifice as much as we fear. We just need to do our best; there is no fixed goal even in the Kyoto Protocol. We just need to project our own goal according to our flexible assessment,'' he said.
He said the government is working on a packaged measure against climate change, which will be announced in the near future. ``I say it will be pretty strong and tight, yet feasible,'' he hinted.
Chung is the chief negotiator for climate change issues representing Korea. Since the early 90s, he has been involved in international environmental negotiations such as the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and inserted compulsory licensing and transfer of publicly owned technologies in Agenda 21. He served at Korean Missions in the U.S. and the OECD, too.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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