Greenpeace urges Korea to stop funding coal plants overseas

A member of he international environmental group Greenpeace holds a rally in Seoul on Nov. 28, to urge that state-run financial institutions stop investing in overseas coal-fired power plants. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Kim Jae-heun

International environmental organizations including Greenpeace have urged the Korean government to stop funding coal thermal power generations in developing countries, local environmental groups said, Tuesday.

Along with Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth sent letters to Cheong Wa Dae and other government organizations, including the finance ministry, the environment ministry and the foreign ministry.

The NGOs said in the letter that local financial institutions such as the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank), Korea Trade Insurance Corp. and Korea Development Bank (KDB) should stop their overseas coal investments. They also urged the government to halt operations of coal plants in Samcheok and Gangneung, both in Gangwon Province.

Korea has invested 9.4 trillion won ($8.4 billion) into overseas coal-fired thermal power plants since the late 2000s.

“OECD countries agreed to restrict financial aid to coal-fired thermal power plants in 2015. We will request an investigation from the OECD about Korean overseas investments,” the NGOs were quoted as saying in their letters. “Instead of providing financial support to short-sighted, inefficient and anti-environmental coal plants through financial institutions like KDB, we encourage the Korean government to invest in renewable energies.”

Indonesian coal plants supported by Korean financial institutions are 10 to 20 times weaker in controlling air pollution compared to those in Korea. The NGOs say such coal plants cause respiratory diseases and premature deaths in Southeast Asian countries as well as negatively affect the air and water pollution there.

The environmental organizations will protest the Korean government during the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice, Poland, which started on Dec. 3 and continues until Dec. 14.

The NRDC and Southeast Asian environmental organizations are expected to play a key role here, along with Greenpeace and other international NGOs.

“Korean financial institutions investing in foreign coal plants show how our government lacks interest in abiding by the Paris Climate Agreement. This is what international environmental organizations are taking issue with,” said lawyer Lee So-young of the local environmental group Solutions for Our Climate.