UK's 2050 Pathways introduced in Korea
In 2010, the United Kingdom’s Department of Energy and Climate Change created the 2050 Pathways, a web-based calculator allowing people to create their own greenhouse gas emission reduction pathway by the year 2050. (
https://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/2050/2050.aspx
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Last week, Sejong University’s Climate Change Research Center launched a modified version for Koreans. (
“This is an open tool — it is open and accessible to everyone. That’s what makes it unique. Ananyone can go online and contribute to the debate, from school children to policy experts,” said British Ambassador to Korea, Scott Wightman, during a press conference held in Seoul, Thursday.
“It has been very popular (in the UK) with 80,000 people trying their own pathways and joining debates online.”
The calculator has three different versions for children, adults and experts. In a nutshell, it is a program through which users can set future conditions in terms of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and see how much Co2 reduction that can be made.
The tool presents viewers with three charts, describing the demand for energy, the supply of energy and greenhouse gas emissions. Below the charts is a list of sectors with four trajectories ranging from little or no effort (level 1) to reduce emissions to high emission goals (level 4).
Participants select a level according to their own assessment. The charts then recalculate the quantities of greenhouse gas emissions they produce.
Jeon Eui-chan, director of the research center, who led the team that translated the original version and modified it for Korean use said, “We hope this program will draw the public’s attention to the climate change issue.”
Sejong research center’s endeavor is a reflection of the UK’s climate change priorities in its foreign policy.
The British government funded the project through its “Prosperity Fund,” created in 2010, sponsoring climate change-related projects around the world and raising awareness of the issue and the UK’s priorities.
The UK’s foreign missions around the world sponsor local projects in host countries.
Besides the calculator project, the embassy in Seoul is funding a project by the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute to design carbon labeling for consumer products. China, Brazil and Belgium are also working to modify this for use in those nations.
It is also funding an online animation series, titled “Noru,” on Naver, a popular local search portal.
The United Kingdom has an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target, which is 80 percent by 2050, against its 1990 levels. Korea’s target reduction is 30 percent by 2020, relative to the ambiguous “business as usual.”