4th Green Industry Conference opens in Ulsan

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director General Li Yong, fourth from right in front row, and Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon, center, pose with other participants during the opening ceremony of the 4th Green Industry Conference in Ulsan, Tuesday. UNIDO and the Ulsan Metropolitan City hosted the international conference which is expected to adopt the Ulsan statement. / Korea Times photo by Kim Ji-soo

By Kim Ji-soo

ULSAN — The three-day Green Industry Conference opened Tuesday here, with about 300 representatives from the government, business, academia and civil sectors gathering to discuss interdependence between industry and cities in striving for resource efficiency and green technology.

The fourth edition of the international conference is jointly hosted by the U.N. Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Ulsan Metropolitan City. UNIDO is a specialized U.N. agency that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability.

The event is also sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA), the National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) and the China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP).

Countries and their industries and cities face the urgent need to shift to resource-efficient and low-carbon production, prompting the UNIDO to launch its "green industry" initiative to promote economically, environmentally and socially sustainable industrial development. Launched in 2009 during the first International Conference on Green Industry in Asia in Manila, Philippines, the initiative complements the U.N. Environmental Program's "green economy" initiative and the UNESCAP or the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific's "green growth."

Under the theme of "Green Industry for Sustainable Cities," the participants will review successes and the latest examples from industries and cities, and what policy challenges and opportunities lie ahead in implementing green industry solutions.

On the first day, UNIDO Director General Li Yong (of China) and Ulsan City Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon opened the event, followed by statements from high-level representatives. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. Habitat Executive Director Joan Clos delivered video messages.

Some of the high-level representatives in attendance were MOTIE Deputy Minister Park Won-joo, Chairman Wang Xiaokang of China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group, Thai Minister of Industry Atchaka Sibunruang, Afghan Minister of Commerce and Industries Humayoon Rasaw, Bangladeshi Minister of Industry Amir Hossain Amu, Vietnamese Vice-Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong and Cambodian Minister of Industry and Handicrafts Cham Prasidh.

The participants from 25 countries held plenary sessions on three themes _ green industry for sustainable cities, Korea's green strategy in urban industrial areas, and low-carbon transport and energy for sustainable cities.

U.N. statistics forecast that cities and urban areas will host about 70 percent of the global population by 2050; the conference accordingly delved into how cities can play a fundamental role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by nurturing a new type of industrialization that relies on innovation and green technology and creates jobs.

In Korea, the Low-Carbon Green Growth (LCGG) initiatives were introduced during the Lee Myung-bak administration (2008-2013), and a national strategy for green growth (2009-2050) was announced. The Korean city of Ulsan, with a population of 1.1 million, is an industrial powerhouse. It is home to the world's largest automobile assembly plant, operated by Hyundai Motor; the largest shipyard, operated by Hyundai Heavy Industries; and the second largest oil refinery, operated by SK Energy. As a result, the city's GDP per capita is among the highest in the nation. Yet industries in Ulsan have converted existing facilities into eco-industrial parks through inter-industry waste, energy and material exchange. Such is the case between SK Chemical and SK Energy, where the former sends surplus steam to the latter in the Ulsan Steam Highway Project.

On the second day, participants will discuss how the green industry contributes to the circular economy, including key green industry activities such as eco-industrial parks and sound chemical management, that reduces pollution and waste through re-use or safe re-absorption by the environment.

At the conclusion of the day, the participants will issue a joint statement, called the "Ulsan Statement," containing the recommendations and actions.

On the last day, the participants will visit the manufacturing sites in Ulsan, including those of Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Energy and Ulsan Hydrogen Town, to see how the actual interdependent relationship is working.

The Green Industry Conference has been held in three countries in addition to Korea. In the 2009 conference in Manila, the participants gathered under the theme "Managing the Transition to Resource-Efficient and Low-Carbon Industries." In the 2011 conference in Tokyo, Japan, the attendees discussed progress in green industry. The third conference in Guangzhou focused on the theme of "Promoting the Rapid Uptake of Green Industry in Harmony with the Earth's Ecosystems."