Korea Needs to Change Development Paradigm

Refurbishing streams and rivers will give citizens plenty of opportunity to breathe and feel a clean and natural environment in the middle of the city and help boost regional economy. / Courtesy of Environment Ministry

`Green New Deal' Solution for Creating More Jobs, Overcoming Economic Slowdown

By Lee Maan-ee
Minister of Environment

Countries around the world are suffering from the global economic downturn, and Korea is no exception. Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that most countries, except for China and a few other emerging nations, are expected to show negative growth this year, and the Korean government changed its prospects for 2009 to -2 percent for economic growth.

Such gloomy prospects also affect Korea's job market. Some argue that the financial

crisis in the United States has triggered the current economic slowdown, but it's necessary to look into the fundamental problems of the global economy.

Since industrialization, the international community has enjoyed high economic growth thanks to low energy prices and cheap natural resources. Thus, it's easy to imagine what would happen if traditional energy sources are depleted, clearly showing the huge impact of energy sources on the current economic system. The rapid depletion of natural resources, which were once believed to be infinite, has put limits on the current economic paradigm, and the unrestrained use of those resources has contributed to global environmental challenges such as climate change.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States asserts that CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere should be maintained below 350ppm (parts per million) to stop climate change, but they are currently about 387ppm. Thus, the fact that climate change is taking place has been accepted as nearly undisputed.

Therefore, one of the fundamental problems with the current economic system is that it is both economically and environmentally unsustainable in its reliance solely on traditional energy-intensive industries.

To deal with such structural problems, President Lee Myung-bak announced ``Low Carbon, Green Growth'' as a new national development paradigm on Aug. 15. In his speech, he said, ``Green growth refers to sustainable growth, which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution. It is also a new national development paradigm that creates new growth engines and jobs with green technology and clean energy.''

This new growth strategy is also in line with the directions that the majority of advanced nations take for their national development.

Most green-growth strategies implemented by those nations include lowering their dependence on traditional energy sources and increasing the efficiency of using them, developing and distributing renewable energy, and strengthening their policy efforts to cut CO2 emissions. In addition, those countries are committed to achieving environmental conservation and economic growth at the same time by investing in the development of new technologies and fostering green industries.

New Green Deal

Such efforts have recently led to more jobs in eco-friendly sectors of the economy, called ``green jobs.''

The Worldwatch Institute, a global environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C., says that green jobs are expected to increase rapidly in the future, though they do not currently, and the United Nations Environment Program also emphasized the importance of forward-looking government policies, as the current growth rate of green jobs is not sufficient to successfully address ever-increasing climate change and other environmental issues. Meanwhile, economic restructuring is occurring in so far as green jobs are steadily increasing but traditional economic sectors have experienced a decrease in jobs or changes in business activities.

However, public concerns are growing over Korea's weakened job market, affected by the global economic downturn, while the increase in green jobs is not rapid enough. Now is the time for the government to firmly establish its long-term policy direction for green growth and make a huge investment to end the vicious cycle whereby lower consumer spending and corporate investment have negative influences on the economy and job market and vice versa.

Therefore, the Korean government has come up with a combination of policies that can contribute to both job creation and green growth. To this end, it has decided to focus its spending on eco-friendly and future-oriented areas when carrying out large-scale public projects to stimulate the economy and generate jobs.

As a result, on Jan. 6 this year, the government announced the ``Green New Deal,'' consisting of nine major projects and 27 affiliated projects, such as improving the environment of Korea's four major rivers, developing and promoting green cars and clean energy, expanding the recycling of waste resources and waste-to-energy systems, and building more eco-friendly homes.

Under the Green New Deal, the ministry will set up a comprehensive system to collect and treat waste across the nation, and expand sewage pipelines and treatment facilities to reduce pollutants flowing into rivers.

It will also build facilities that purify water discharged from sewage treatment sites and supply it to industrial complexes for their use. In addition, the ministry plans to develop technologies that can reduce pollutants from cars and promote eco-friendly vehicles.

Thus far, the government has put its emphasis on the safe treatment of municipal and industrial waste, but is shifting its policy focus to recycling waste resources and recovering energy from waste in order to address challenges from high oil prices and climate change.

To this end, the government will increase investment in recycling and waste-to-energy infrastructure. These days, waste and biomass are drawing more attention as more practical alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuel.

Furthermore, the ministry will recover the health of marine habitats and create a well-preserved water environment by restoring ecosystems of streams damaged by previous river maintenance.

The Green New Deal is a set of measures to promote green growth and overcome the economic slowdown at the same time. Moreover, timing is critical to implement such measures. By taking aggressive measures and gathering people's wisdom and efforts, Korea can be an outstanding example of laying a solid foundation for green growth while overcoming the economic slowdown over a short period of time.

Summary of Policies
• Green growth refers to sustainable growth, which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution.

• ``Green New Deal'' consists of nine major projects and 27 affiliated projects. It includes improving the environment around Korea's four major rivers, developing and promoting green cars and clean energy, expanding the recycling of waste resources and waste-to-energy systems, and building more eco-friendly homes.

• Lowering dependence on traditional energy sources, developing and distributing renewable energy, and strengthening policy efforts to cut CO2 emissions.

• Establishment of a long-term policy direction for green growth and make a huge investment to end the vicious cycle whereby lower consumer spending and corporate investment have negative influences on the economy and job market.

• Implementation of a combination of policies that can contribute to both job creation and green growth.

• Allocation of government spending to eco-friendly and future-oriented areas when carrying out large-scale public projects to stimulate the economy and generate jobs.

• Carrying through measures to promote green growth and overcome economic slowdown at the right time and in an aggressive manner. In the process, gathering people's wisdom and efforts is an essential ingredient.

Who is Lee Maan-ee?
Lee Maan-ee is the 13th minister of the environment. The ministry was established in Dec. 1994.

After graduating from Chosun University, Lee started his civil servant career in 1972 as deputy director of the internal affairs bureau of the Gyeonggi provincial government. He has served as Mayor of Yeochun and Mokpo, both in South Jeolla Province. He was also Vice Mayor or Jeju and Gwangju.

Alongside his administrative steps, Lee served in the environmental sector by serving as Vice Minister of the environment ministry in 2002.

He worked as CEO of Environmental Management Corporation between 2003 and 2006, and a permanent member of 2012 Yeosu World Expo Bid Committee. He was visiting professor at Dankook University and Chonnam National University.

Lee was appointed as environment minister in February 2008.