South Korea to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions 37% by 2030

The government has finalized its 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent compared with Business As Usual (BAU). During a Cabinet meeting held on June 30, the government announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent from BAU levels by 2030. The reduction plan was submitted to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat on the same day.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said, “Considering the fact that South Korea has been playing a leading role in fighting climate change in the international community, we set a higher target than the previous four plans.” However, the announcement came only 19 days after the government outlined four scenarios for the country's emissions target on June 11, and the fifth scenario was suddenly decided without accommodating speculation. Accordingly, there has been criticism that the government handles this new climate change system with more haste than caution.

At the briefing at Sejong Government Complex on the same day, South Korean Environment Minister Yoon Seong-kyu said, “Once the new climate change system is decided in the U.N. Climate Change Conference being held in Paris at the end of this year, we will come up with detailed plans to reduce greenhouse gases emissions by sector and industry.” Accordingly, the earlier plan in 2009 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in 2020 was abrogated.

The final plan submitted to the U.N. is to accomplish the target goal by introducing the third from the existing four scenarios to reduce 25.7 percent, but purchasing global carbon credits equivalent to the other 11.3 percent through the international market mechanism (IMM), which will be formed in the future. Experts pointed out that the emission rights will eventually be paid with taxpayer money, whether the government or businesses shoulder the burden.

Considering that the nation’s economic structure is focused on the manufacturing industry, however, the government limited the emission reductions of the industry to within 12 percent compared with the BAU. Instead, the government plans to most reduce the power generation and transportation sectors, which emit a large amount of greenhouse gases. As the industrial circles are strongly resisting the plan, citing that it is physically impossible to reduce emissions by 12 percent, however, aftereffects are expected.