Three years of green growth

By Park Heung-kyeong

As U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly emphasized, climate change is the “defining challenge of our era.” Indeed, climate change has the potential to affect everything from the health of the world economy to the health of individual citizens everywhere. In this sense, climate change is a global challenge that requires a global response.

Korea has played a significant role in the initiation and organization of this “global response.” Now, three years since President Lee Myung-bak announced “low carbon, green growth” as the national vision, Korea has made countless strides in this direction.

On a national level, after its achievements in the famous “Miracle of the Han River,” Korea has once again engaged in an attempt to revolutionize the world’s economic paradigm. On an international level, it has succeeded in transforming a national vision into a global agenda, recognized by the rest of the world as a legitimate goal for the future of modern civilization.

Following the announcement of Korea’s national vision, the Korean government has focused on realizing the ideals outlined. A green growth national strategy was established in conjunction with a five-year economic development plan (2009-2013). Based on the plan, the appropriate networks between central and local governments and the private sector were set up quickly in 2009.

In particular, the Presidential Green Growth Committee (GGC) established relations with independent GGCs in 16 different cities and provinces, while it also contributed in enacting the Basic Law on Low Carbon, Green Growth by which various institutional arrangements have been legally formalized.

Funding for the appropriate industries came as a natural second step. Investment in green industries and technologies was encouraged through increases in government funding, amounting to a steady 2 percent of Korea’s GDP (107.4 trillion won from 2009-2013). Core green technologies were given special attention in this strategic move. All this is expected to facilitate private investment and involvement in green industries, furthering Korea’s transition to a green economy.

These policies manifest themselves in a number of ways. First of all, corporate investment in green technologies has increased by more than 70 percent each year for the past two years. This amounts to an expected 22.4 trillion won allocated to green technologies from 2011 to 2013. Second, an increase in investment has resulted in a number of milestones. Korean industries have taken on leading roles in LED TV production, lithium battery production and solar technology. Korea’s first-ever electric car was unveiled to the public in 2010.

In the larger context of climate change, the Korean government has been no less active. This has been so for both greenhouse gas reduction and adaption to future climate change.

In July, the Korean government drafted effective greenhouse gas reduction goals for its industrial entities, in order to reach its ambitious national greenhouse gas reduction target of 30 percent from projected levels (BAU) by the year 2020. Also, in order to facilitate a market-friendly transition to a low-carbon economy, Korea is deliberating a rapid and efficient introduction for a domestic carbon-trading scheme, to be effective by 2015.

Korea’s efforts, as mentioned above, have not been limited to its domestic concerns. Korea has campaigned to promote green growth as a global agenda. This has been seen in the selection of green growth as one of the OECD’s core ideals.

This has also reached fruition through the establishment of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), an international think-tank for environmentally friendly transitions, and the East Asia Climate Partnership (EACP), an initiative designed to promote common action and cooperation among developing countries against climate change. The GGGI in particular has utilized the experience that Korea has gained over the past three years to aid similar projects in Indonesia, Brazil, Ethiopia and others.

The goals set forth by the Presidential Green Growth Committee shall be met through the active implementation of national plans and the addressing of shortcomings. In the process, it is imperative that the Korean government work effectively in concert with civil societies and citizens to achieve its ideals of “low carbon, green growth.”

On a global level, the Korean government must and will work closely with the international community to further develop and refine the concept of green growth. A combined national and international effort is a must-have in achieving the conditions necessary for a transition to an environmentally responsible and prosperous future.

The writer is deputy director general for green growth and environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He can be reached at hkpark89@mofat.go.kr.