Former PM points to eco-future
By Philip Iglauer
Han Seung-soo, chair of the Governing Board of the Global Green Growth Institute, said the government’s “green growth” initiative is the only viable answer to the challenges of climate change for the long-term.
“Korea’s green growth policy is a different quality-oriented paradigm of growth, one that does not trade economic development for environmental protection,” Han told The Korea Times.
Han was Prime Minister of Korea in 2008 and 2009 and is one of the members of the U.N. Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability.
“Green growth relies on new ideas, innovation and technology to make growth and sustainability complementary,” he said.
As part of the efforts, the government has earmarked $32 billion in green technology investment for 2011.
The Pew Charitable Trust’s report “Who Is Winning The Clean Energy Race,” described that investment as among the “G-20’s most generous.” The 2010 report reviews the status of clean energy finance and investment in G-20 countries.
Han said that by comparison to large economies like China, Germany and the United States, Korea’s investment might seem small, but “we are now spending 2 percent of GDP on green investment. Relative to the size of our economy, Korea’s investment is quite large.”
According to the Pew report, the world’s 20 leading economies spent $240 billion in clean energy investment. Europe invested $94 billion and Asia $83 billion, with Germany and China leading their respective regions and the world in green investment.
The Americas region placed a distant third in 2010 with $63 billion.
Although Europe’s clean energy industry led the world in 2010, Asia is closing the gap rapidly and is expected to become the center of gravity in clean energy in the coming years, the report concluded.
Asia surpassed the Americas in 2010 for a regional second place, its green investment growing 33 percent. Investment in green technology by China, the world’s green growth super power, grew by 40% in 2010 with $55 billion in investment in 2010.
On the pending revised bill of a proposed emission trading scheme for Korea, Han said the bill is important, but “carbon trading schemes are restrictive and constraining short-term solutions to climate change, whereas green growth is a long-term and positive approach.”
President Lee Myung-bak promised to pass legislation by the end of this year. The bill was submitted in the National Assembly in November 2010.
The legislation was then revised to take into account the interests of various stakeholders involved, including the business sector, and to identify exact tools and mechanisms for implementing ETS, according to the Global Green Growth Institute.
The revised bill was submitted to the National Assembly in February 2011 and the National Assembly has yet to pass the legislation.
Under the current ETS bill, if it is passed, a carbon trading regime will come into effect in January 2015. Korea will be the only Asian country to pass a national emissions trading scheme, if the bill passes.
“We are looking to creative, integrated and forward-thinking solutions that will also contribute to a global reduction in carbon emissions,” Han said. “We need a new and fresh approach, recognizing the symbiotic relationship between economic growth and climatic sustainability.”