Moon launches presidential committee on carbon-neutral campaign
A special strategic meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, presided by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, announced a presidential order to launch a pan-governmental “2050 Carbon Neutrality Committee” to meet the national goal of lowering the country's carbon emission to zero by 2050. At the backdrop is a banner that reads “2050 Before Too Late.” Yonhap
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during the Friday's Cheong Wa Dae meeting. Yonhap
President Moon Jae-in announced a plan Friday to establish a presidential body on South Korea's stated goal of going carbon neutral by 2050 as part of a "strong pan-governmental system" to push for the vision.
He said the envisioned government-private organization, tentatively named the "2050 Carbon Neutrality Committee," is meant to implement the policy speedily.
The government will also seek to create a new vice-ministerial position to be in charge of energy policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the president added.
He was speaking at an interagency meeting on drawing up carbon-neutral strategies, joined by the heads of relevant ministries and senior ruling Democratic Party officials.
"The grand transition to a carbon-neutral society will be an opportunity to simultaneously pursue economic growth and the improvement of quality of life," he said in his opening remarks.
He added, "(The government) is going to push for low carbonization in all economic sectors. The structural transformation of the energy system is the starting point."
Moon revealed a scheme to place a focus on developing three key new industries ― renewable energy, hydrogen and energy IT ― in order to accelerate the transformation of South Korea, one of the world's most fossil fuel-reliant economies, into a carbon-neural nation.
In particular, he said his administration will grow future car production businesses as a leading industry, pledging to lay a "firm foundation" for moving toward carbon neutrality before his tenure ends in May 2022. (Yonhap)