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Kim Sung-woo

Kim Sung-woo is the head of Environment & Energy Research Institute at Kim & Chang.

Kim Sung-woo

Sustainable energy supply chain

From May 20, the Asian Leadership Conference (ALC) convened in Seoul. Often described as Korea’s answer to the Davos forum, the ALC gathers distinguished global leaders —ranging from former U.S. President George W. Bush to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — to survey major challenges facing society and to explore possible policy and practical solutions. For the past 10 years, I have organized and moderated the conference’s environment and energy session. This year, the conversation was dominated by risks to energy supply chains. That emphasis reflects a stark reality: Since the United States’ strike on Iran at the end of February and the subsequent escalation into a broader Middle East conflict, the world has confronted renewed supply chain vulnerabilities that pose a direct threat to global energy security. The current crisis in the Middle East has resurrected the inflationary specter that followed the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, when gas and electricity prices surged dramatically. The episode has made clear that geopolitical shocks of that magnitude can

2d agoBy Kim Sung-woo
Sustainable energy supply chain
Kim Sung-woo

Self-reliant China weathers global energy crisis

The escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran has transcended the boundaries of a localized geopolitical skirmish: The physical destruction of infrastructure has triggered a deep crisis in the global energy supply chain, leading to a sustained and painful surge in energy prices. This, in turn, has catalyzed a broader industrial competitiveness crisis, as manufacturing costs and logistics expenses skyrocket across nearly every sector. Furthermore, the disruption in the trade of critical derivatives — such as petrochemicals, helium and fertilizers — is now actively destabilizing the supply chains of essential commodities worldwide. As countries scramble to predict impacts and devise countermeasures, China’s two-pronged strategic response offers significant insights into modern economic resilience and industrial dominance. China’s primary response focuses on achieving energy independence to mitigate the inherent volatility of the global supply chain. While China remains a major importer of crude oil, its overall energy self-sufficiency rate now exceeds 80 p

May 11, 2026By Kim Sung-woo
Self-reliant China weathers global energy crisis
Kim Sung-woo

Conditions for sustainable energy transition

Until now, the intermittent nature and high cost of low-carbon energy transitions have frequently been regarded as fundamentally incompatible with an energy security paradigm predicated on reliable and inexpensive fossil fuels. However, as hostilities between the United States and Iran have intensified, the global energy market confronts an intriguing paradox amid unprecedented uncertainty. The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly one fifth of maritime crude oil shipments transit — has showed how a geopolitical shock can precipitate restricting effects in the global energy system, demonstrating that such shocks can dislodge the basic premise of stable energy supplies and abruptly disrupt upstream and downstream supply chains and market pricing. In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, the outbreak of an additional armed conflict has amplified concerns that the foregoing energy security shocks may recur and become systemic. Against this background, policymakers increasingly encounter the paradoxical conclusion that responding effectively to energy crises requires gre

Apr 16, 2026By Kim Sung-woo
Kim Sung-woo

Why we are hyped about tax breaks for climate technology

From this year, the European Union (EU) will commence the full implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which, until last year, had operated on a pilot basis. The CBAM is a regime that levies charges on goods exported into the EU from jurisdictions where carbon emission regulation is comparatively lax, calculated according to the quantity of carbon emitted in the course of producing the relevant goods. Under the CBAM, the method for recovering carbon-related costs associated with imports is to require importers to procure emission allowances equivalent to those that EU-based operators must obtain under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). Notwithstanding this framework, the market price of EU allowances has behaved in 2026 in a manner that diverges from prevailing expectations. As of Jan. 15, 2026, the price per ton of carbon dioxide allowances was €92, the highest level since August 2023, but by Feb. 25, 2026, it had fallen to €72 per ton, a reduction of approximately 20 percent. This depreciation is principally attributable to increased uncertainty surro

Mar 31, 2026By Kim Sung-woo
Kim Sung-woo

A wise approach to climate action

As 2026 begins, New Year’s conversations rarely linger on the “grand discourse” of melting glaciers or atmospheric carbon parts per million. Instead, the focus is on stock portfolios and the relentless evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). Prioritizing the tangible and the immediate is a natural human tendency. We react with visceral urgency to a dip in our investment accounts or news of an AI model capable of replacing our job functions. Climate change, by contrast, has long been viewed as a distant, abstract threat. This preference for the immediate assumes we can safely “delay” our climate response — a premise that is no longer valid. The 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold, once the psychological “red line” for global stability, has already been beached in short-term data. Scientists warn that by 2030, this breach will be permanent in long-term statistical averages. This isn’t just a number; it marks the beginning of irreversible planetary changes where “responding later” is no longer a viable option. The failure of the moral argument For half a century,

Feb 10, 2026By Kim Sung-woo
A wise approach to climate action
Kim Sung-woo

Four distinct seasons poised to disappear

Last month, the Korea Meteorological Administration issued a warning that resonated far beyond the scientific community, touching the hearts of a public that has long taken its “four distinct seasons” for granted. According to the “Climate Change Analysis Report of Korea (1912–2024),” a comparison between the early 20th century and the most recent three decades reveals a dramatic shift: Summer has expanded by 25 days, while winter has shrunk by 22 days. For many Koreans, the data provides sobering numerical evidence for a phenomenon we already feel: Our longest season is no longer the crisp, snow-covered winter, but the sweltering, humid summer. The outlook for the future is even more chilling. Using the recently launched “Climate Change Situation Map” to analyze Seoul’s projected seasonal shifts, researchers found that by the end of the century (2080–2100), summer is expected to expand from its current 127 days to a staggering 188 days. In this scenario, summer would consume more than half the year. Conversely, winter is projected to dwindle from 102 days to a mere

Jan 11, 2026By Kim Sung-woo
Four distinct seasons poised to disappear
Kim Sung-woo

Strengthening carbon regulations, solving corporate dilemmas

The Korean government finalized its 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) on Nov. 11, establishing a concrete target to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 53-61 percent compared to 2018 levels. A breakdown of these figures reveals significant variation and immense challenges across sectors. The power sector faces a particularly intense reduction goal of 68.8-75.3 percent, while the building and transport sectors are tasked with reductions of 53.6-56.2 percent and 60.2-62.8 percent, respectively. By contrast, the industrial sector was assigned a relatively moderate target of 24.3-31 percent. This calibrated approach reflects the structural reality of Korea’s manufacturing-heavy economy and acknowledges the current limitations of scalable reduction technologies in hard-to-abate sectors, where emissions are deeply embedded in production processes and operations. To achieve these ambitious NDC targets, the government is deploying a suite of policy tools. However, the primary mechanism for enforcing compliance in the power and industrial sectors remains the Emissions Trading S

Dec 11, 2025By Kim Sung-woo
Strengthening carbon regulations, solving corporate dilemmas
Kim Sung-woo

Where is Asia’s ESG heading?

An interesting vote took place in the European Parliament last month. A proposed agreement from the Committee on Legal Affairs, aimed at advancing the ‘Simplification Omnibus’ bill to reduce administrative burdens and simplify corporate reporting obligations, was unexpectedly rejected Oct. 22. This bill, first proposed in February, is a comprehensive legislative package intended to ease environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) reporting and due diligence requirements. Most notably, this includes the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which mandates companies to identify and remedy human rights and environmental risks within their global supply chains. In another vote during a plenary session on Nov. 13, the Parliament endorsed reduced reporting duties for companies, making reporting simpler and only required for large businesses. The situation in Europe, a global standard-setter, raises a pressing question: Where does this leave ESG in Asia, a central hub of the global supply chain? Coincidentally, the Cambridge Forum on International ESG in Asia-P

Nov 24, 2025By Kim Sung-woo
Where is Asia’s ESG heading?
Kim Sung-woo

Why GHG reduction targets are being strengthened

Climate Week NYC, held in New York alongside the U.N. General Assembly each September, concluded late last month with record participation from corporations and institutions. Since 2009, the world's largest private-sector-led climate event has brought together governments, businesses and civil society to discuss climate crisis responses. This year, its attention focused sharply on national greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, called nationally determined contributions (NDC), and climate response plans announced at the U.N. Climate Summit during Climate Week, as the growing severity of climate change intensified international calls for stronger country-level emission reduction commitments — even as the United States maintained its stance against climate policy. Particular attention centered on Chinese President Xi Jinping's September 24 announcement that China would reduce its GHG emissions by 7 to 10 percent from peak levels by 2035. This marked the first time China — responsible for more than 30 percent of global GHG emissions — presented an absolute emission reduction target

Oct 19, 2025By Kim Sung-woo
Why GHG reduction targets are being strengthened
Kim Sung-woo

Maritime carbon emissions and the shipping industry’s competitive edge

Ships navigating the world’s oceans emit a staggering one billion tons of carbon dioxide annually. This figure surpasses the emissions from global aviation and is approximately 1.5 times South Korea’s total national emissions. This raises a complex question: When a ship travels from South Korea to the United States, who is responsible for the carbon it emits during the voyage? Is it South Korea, the U.S., the ship owner or the cargo owner? Under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping and aviation are treated differently from emissions in other sectors. The responsibility for limiting and reducing these emissions is delegated to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization, respectively. This special designation exists because attributing maritime emissions to specific nations is both technically and politically challenging, as vessels are mobile assets that operate across multiple jurisdictions. As the primary regulator for the internation

Sep 7, 2025By Kim Sung-woo
Maritime carbon emissions and the shipping industry’s competitive edge
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