Need for Change
Statistics Korea announced on March 29 that South Korea's greenhouse gas emissions are the sixth-largest in the OECD while its renewable energy-based power generation is at the bottom in it.
According to its report, South Korea's total greenhouse gas emissions were 656.22 million CO2eq in 2020. This is a 124.7% increase from 1990 and a 6.4% decrease from 2019. It is 9.7% lower than the peak in 2018 (726.98 million).
As for OECD countries’ 2019 emissions, the United States is the first, followed by Japan, Germany, Canada, Mexico, and South Korea. In terms of emissions per capita, Australia recorded 21.5 tons, followed by the United States (20 tons), Canada (19.6 tons), Luxembourg (17.3 tons), New Zealand (16.4 tons), and South Korea (12.7 tons).
When it comes to the ratio of renewable-energy-based power generation, South Korea recorded 3.36% in 2019, when the OECD average was 23.4%. Iceland's ratio amounted to 81.1%, followed by Norway (62.37%), Sweden (52.88%), and Austria (45.76%). South Korea came in last behind Japan (7.69%) and Israel (4.47%).