By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Britain, the country of the Stern Report, is one good role model for Korea in terms of measures against climate change. Its embassy in Korea has established a Climate Change and Energy section headed by Tony Clemson, working full time on the issue.
``Climate change is not just an environmental issue. It is also a national security issue: climate change acts as a multiplier of instability.
``Drought, crop failure, water shortages, and floods will have greatest impact in areas with existing tensions or poverty and so increase the risk of conflict or war. It will also affect health, tackling inequality and real moral implications,'' Clemson said.
Therefore, the British government has put much effort into examining possible damages the change would bring to our lives. It has also put climate change and environment issues ahead of many others.
``We are investing heavily in renewable energy: we have announced plans for the world's largest biomass plant, the world's biggest off-shore wind farm and the world's first commercial tidal power plant.
``We have also announced one of the first commercial demonstrations of carbon capture and storage, which will be a crucial new technology to achieve global emission targets. The British Government has set challenging energy efficiency standards and from 2016 all new homes must be carbon neutral,'' he said.
The British government also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with two Korean ministries: The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy for greater bilateral co-operation on climate change in a wide range of areas including low carbon technologies, emission trading schemes and adaptation. The Stern Team is to advise on the writing a Korean version of its report.