By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Greenhouse gases could be a hurdle for South Korea’s sustainable economic growth in the future if the country does not make efforts to secure the right to emit more carbon dioxide, a private economic think tank warned Wednesday.
In a report titled the ``Emission Trading Market: Present & Future,’’ the Hyundai Research Institute claimed South Korea might have to spend tens of billions of dollars in 2020 to cope with the problem if it is left untouched.
According to the report, South Korea was the world’s 10th-biggest energy consumer as of 2004 and the greenhouse gases the country emits a year accounted for about 1.7 percent of the total.
``If converted into the amount of carbon dioxide, the total greenhouse gas emission had increased 192 percent from 226.2 million tons in 1990 to 435.8 million tons in 2001,’’ the report said. ``In 2020, it is expected to reach 716.9 million tons.’’
Greenhouse gases are components of the atmosphere that contribute to the so-called greenhouse effect on the globe. While some of the gases are created naturally, most of them result from human activities such as the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
Greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone have been blamed for causing the so-called global warming and contributing to abnormal climate conditions like floods and drought.
Some advanced countries are subject to the obligatory reduction of carbon dioxide emissions under international protocols. But they are entitled to buy and sell the right to emit greenhouse gases in accordance with the emissions trading scheme.
If South Korea is designated as a country that should reduce emissions to 10 percent below the 1990 levels by 2020, the HRI report said, it would have to spend up to $27.71 billion (25.8 trillion won), or 3.0 percent of last year’s gross domestic product (GDP).
``While the country does not have an emissions trading market that could facilitate voluntary businesses in the field, it also lacks a comprehensive policy roadmap for the reduction of greenhouse gases,’’ it wrote.
In accordance with the so-called emissions trading, an administrative approach designed to control the global pollution problem, companies over the allowed amounts must buy credits from those who pollute less than their allowances.
In effect, the buyer is being fined for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions. At present, a total of 10 emissions trading markets are operated across the world. China and Japan are also set to have one each this year.
HRI researchers said that the size of the emissions trading market grew to $30.1 billion last year, 2.8 times larger than that the previous year. By 2010, the size is expected to expand to about $150 billion, according to them.
``It is high time that the government made utmost efforts to draw up mid- and long-term roadmaps, and establish a database related to the emissions trading markets and foster specialists in the field,’’ said one of the researchers.