[INTERVIEW] Jeju Governor has 2023 world climate conference in crosshairs

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Governor Won Hee-ryong listens during an interview with The Korea Times at his office on Jeju Island. Courtesy of Jeju Provincial Office

By Ko Dong-hwan

JEJU ISLAND ― If there was a kid that could not wait to present a homemade rollercoaster he made for high school physics class, that would be Jeju Island Governor Won Hee-ryong ― except the rollercoaster would be the island he has been governing with South Korea's most rigorous eco-friendly policies, and the physics teacher would be the member states of the Conference of the Parties 28 (COP28) scheduled for 2023.

The special self-governing province chief eagerly wishes South Korea to grab the opportunity to host the annual global conference that will reveal how participating parties of countries have contributed to global warming and what they plan to do to mitigate it ― the central and unified goal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which has been convening the gatherings since 1995 except this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the world witnessing ever-worsening climate conditions, apparent with sea-level rise, more frequent tornadoes and extreme heat waves and food shortages, what comes out from each COP ― which is one of the UNFCCC's supreme bodies ― has been critical insofar as guiding the eco-friendly blueprints of nearly 200 countries.

But even if South Korea has the honor of hosting the event, the competition extends further to among local cities, with Busan, Incheon and Yeosu the strongest contenders.

Does the governor think Jeju stands a chance? Yes, like a kid so certain his rollercoaster will produce the fastest velocity and make the most 360-degree circles without fail in class.

"We have generated 14 percent of our power from renewable energy, the highest rate among South Korean cities, and more than 30 percent of distributed power comes from renewable energy," Won told The Korea Times.

"We had rolled out for the first time in South Korea 20,000 electric motored vehicles, which now account for the most in the country. Our island is so electric vehicle-friendly that the central government designated Jeju as a recharging service regulations-free zone and opened the country's first used battery recycling center here. We also employ the country's first smart grid ― controlling various power sources at one stop for multifaceted distribution end-points including homes, offices, industrial plants and electric vehicles ― and commercialized coastal wind power plants. These will enable us to reach our goals of powering the island entirely by renewable energy by 2030, when it will be about 4,085 megawatts, and to stop registering new automobiles with internal combustion engines to make all vehicles on the island electric or hydrogen-powered."

With South Korea's most rigorous policies dating back to 2010, Governor Won is eager to host the Conference of Parties 28 in 2023 on Jeju. Courtesy of Jeju Provincial Office

Aside from those technological credentials, the island is also South Korea's exclusive "environmental treasure island," according to Won, with three UNESCO titles (for biosphere reserves selected in 2002, world heritage sites in 2007 and global geoparks in 2010) and five wetland sites under the Ramsar Convention.

What distinguishes this region especially amid the rampaging COVID-19 spiral is its low number of infections ― 127 as of Dec. 15, the country's lowest by city ― while total cases nationally reached 44,364. Won thanked the island's "clean environment" and "border quarantine at airports and ports that is as thorough as that of a national border."

"I think Jeju's clean environment especially attracts more attentions these days since COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease born of increasing human trespassing into ecological systems," Won said.

Jeju's qualification for hosting COP28 has also been endorsed by ambassadors in South Korea who visited the island in November for the annual international "Jeju Forum" roundtable, at which Won met each of them. British Ambassador Simon Smith invited him to the COP26 to be held in Glasgow in 2021, saying Jeju's green efforts should be presented to the global community. Won said he will go there, determined to promote the island to the world, and accepted Smith's offer to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a global anti-coal power plants group launched by the United Kingdom and Canada at the COP23 in 2017.

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Maria Castillo Fernandez from the European Union delegation to South Korea, who Won said was impressed with "tiny Jeju leading the country's ambitious Green New Deal policies," promised the governor she will draw support from EU colleagues. New Zealand Ambassador Philip Turner also admitted Jeju was an "exemplar to the rest of South Korea that announced net zero carbon emissions by 2050."

"Amb. Turner was specifically interested in our wind turbines and green-hydrogen production using remnant power from those generators, so I explained it to him," Won said.

(From top) Governor Won meets British Ambassador to South Korea Simon Smith, the European Union delegation to South Korea representative Maria Castillo Fernandez, and New Zealand Ambassador to South Korea Philip Turner in sideline meetings at the Jeju Forum, Nov. 5. Courtesy of Jeju Provincial Office

'Carbon Free Island 2030'

In 10 years, Jeju will become a carbon free island, according to the island's ongoing environmental plan. And that's not just a pep talk from a wistful leader. The governor has a set of innovative projects going forward that actually extended from the island's early carbonless policies launched back in 2010. Won's ambition to make the island self-reliant on energy hinges on experience and achievements, not just plans.

"Some tourists may have seen our wind turbines standing still and wondered whether they were broken," said Won, who denied this. "They weren't moving because even if they were generating power, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), the country's exclusive power distributor, doesn't have enough capacity to hold that power. So, to realize our energy self-reliance, we will trade our locally produced power directly with electric vehicle charging stations or households on the island without KEPCO. We want to call it free power trade."

The "Carbon Free Island 2030" initiative also heavily invests in hydrogen production and storage for cars, household fuel cells, energy storage systems, drones and even export. It's part of the island's preparation for the emerging "hydrogen economy" to secure future food systems and propel the country's economic growth.

"I first proclaimed a Carbon Free Island 2030 at the COP21 in Paris in 2015," Won said. "Since the initiative can be copied and applied to 2,400 cities worldwide, it drew applause from many participating countries."

Born and growing up on Jeju until graduating high school and entering the country's prestigious Seoul National University, and then having governed the island since 2014, Won called his hometown his "mother and father."

"This place gave birth to me, nurtured me as an adolescent and teenager in school, and gave me a chance to serve the residents here as their governor. Need I explain more?" said Won.

"Before governing here I was a lawmaker representing a Seoul district and gained political fame (to the point of competing for a partisan presidential race for the Hannara Party in 2007). But as I started serving my fellow islanders in Jeju, which I consider as an international test bed for South Korea's innovation and future, it opened my eyes wider."

Governor Won gets out of a Hyundai Ioniq electric vehicle during the International Electric Vehicle Expo at the International Convention Center Jeju, Dec. 9. Courtesy of Jeju Provincial Office

His passion for Jeju can be represented by some of the ongoing local initiatives he is pushing. He was adamant about building the island's second international airport on the eastern coast despite strong objections from residents and environmental activists wary of ecological devastation as side effects. He could no longer neglect the existing airport in Jeju's upper region consistently overflowing with visitors. Besides, he said the objections rather derived from "local interests of different districts" and weren't purely environmental.

The other initiative, which he mentioned in the "Jeju Virtual Forum" held in October where he vowed in front of green screens how the island will digitally not fall behind in tourism despite COVID-19's impact, was levying a new "clean Jeju fee" to those responsible for environmental damages. Won already met islanders and local business representatives to explain how he plans to introduce the unprecedented regulation he said was necessary to prepare a provincial fund for ecological conservation.

"It's basically a principle ― approved by an outsourced study ― of returning the burden to those who discharged daily waste or waste water or caused air pollution or traffic congestion," said Won, adding it is similar to the disposal garbage bags South Koreans must buy (in Seoul, 500 won, or $0.46, per 20 liter-size bag and 1,250 won per 50 liter-size) to dump trash that ends up incinerated or in a landfill.

He wants the new fee system to be employed beyond Jeju. To do that, it first needs a consensus from people nationwide and legalization at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul.

"I don't want people to just pay the fees and be done with it," Won said at the virtual forum at the International Conventional Center Jeju. "I want to instill an idea on how much a burden nature must carry when people take advantage of it."