Kim Sung-woo is the head of Environment & Energy Research Institute at Kim & Chang.
Roles of public and governments in responding to climate crisis
Kim Sung-woo
By Kim Sung-woo
Last year, Korea faced record-breaking climate challenges. According to the 2024 Abnormal Climate Report released by the Korea Meteorological Administration on April 1, the country experienced its highest temperatures since nationwide weather records began in 1973. The average summer temperature reached 25.6 degrees Celsius — 1.9 degrees above normal — with 20.2 tropical nights, more than three times the average.
Precipitation levels were also abnormal, with the data showing the highest concentration of rainfall during the rainy season since weather records began. In late November, unusually heavy snowfall — caused by a temperature gap between the sea and low pressure — led to the deaths of six people and the loss of more than a million livestock.
On March 31, a day before the report was released, I attended a discussion session with high-impact individuals to explore realistic solutions to the climate crisis. The meeting was initiated by Chey Tae-won, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and SK Group, under the theme: Carbon Neutrality: How Do We Achieve It? Chey was present for the entire session, alongside government officials such as the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, and key figures from businesses, academia and civic groups. Attendees discussed how to implement carbon neutrality amid the ever-increasing demand for energy in the AI era.
As AI use increases, the competitiveness of the energy industry translates to national competitiveness, including stability, economic feasibility and the environmental feasibility of power supplies. To achieve this, some say that we need the right balance in developing nuclear and renewable energy with energy storage systems and gas power generation that can complement less flexible nuclear and renewable energies. Well-functioning distribution grids across the nation are also essential.
Attendees also discussed how to ensure stable electricity supplies to semiconductor clusters and data centers, including transitioning to a more decentralized system by keeping energy end users geographically closer to energy producers to minimize the costs of transmitting electricity, and also by differentiating retail prices of energy use depending on where and when energy is consumed.
Notably, Chey proposed that increasing the public’s awareness of carbon neutral issues is vital, stating "We’ve reached a point where we need to decide whether to keep doing what we have been doing without taking actions to address carbon emissions, or move toward carbon neutrality even if that means a lot of costs and inconvenience for us and change the world." Chey suggested economic and civic groups should work together to change how the public perceives carbon neutrality.
He also added that changing the public’s perceptions not only means economic persuasion (by having them pay more) but also a political lens (utilizing their votes). Since electricity prices are heavily determined by politics rather than the economy, the intention is to improve voters’ perceptions and have them in turn influence politics by voting for leaders they believe in. Listening to these comments, I could see why leaders of major civic groups, such as the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, Korea NGO’s Energy Network and Korea Zero Waste Movement Network, were invited as panelists.
I agree that we are in a position where we have to make a tough decision on what costs we are willing to bear and how fast we want to move to tackle the climate crisis. I think it is also a meaningful exercise to think about creating political momentum through voters and by providing economic incentives to consumers. To achieve carbon neutrality, an impact on our electricity bills is unavoidable, and the driving forces behind electricity pricing decisions are votes and price elasticity.
Currently, people do not buy low-carbon products with a high price tag and companies shut down if they do not quickly make money from low-carbon products, so we need to create an ecosystem where paying more for low-carbon (whether it is electricity itself or low-carbon products) becomes the new norm, and NGOs should be involved to make this happen. However, it takes time to persuade the public to change their behavior by changing their awareness. Take energy-saving campaigns as an example — it took more than a decade to establish initiatives that both protect the planet and benefit the public, yet people often revert to old habits shortly after the campaigns end.
Unfortunately, the climate crisis cannot be solved if we respond too late. Time is of the essence, but Korea did not do well in its climate scores last year. Changes in how the public thinks about climate issues and clear policy signals from the government have become more important than ever.
Kim Sung-woo, head of Environment & Energy Research Institute at Kim & Chang, is a member of Management Committee for National Climate Fund.