S. Korea mulling a big step back on greenhouse gas reductions

Posted on : 2014-09-03 16:53 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Previous emission reduction forecast could be revised to allow for higher business-as-usual emissions
 senior staff writer)
senior staff writer)

By Kim Jeong-su, environmental correspondent

The South Korean government is considering revising the greenhouse gas emissions forecast that serves as a benchmark for reductions through 2020.

Now the greenhouse gas emission rights trading system, a previous source of controversy after industry critics demanded a review of its “onerous” terms, is being reworked into a new plan with a lower industry burden that is set to go into effect next year. Legislation for the low-carbon cooperation fund system, an effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions from cars, would also be revised to delay implementation for six years until 2020.

The plans were set at an economic Cabinet ministers meeting on Sept. 2, with related legal amendment work to start shortly, the administration announced. There could be a domestic and international controversy over what they are calling a major step backwards in greenhouse gas reduction policy.

The decision was explained at a briefing just before the meeting by Assistant Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Chung Eun-bo.

“We’re carrying out project work for the long-term business-as-usual (BAU) greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 onward, and we’re also reexamining BAU levels for 2015 to 2020,” Chung said. “Depending on what we find, we’ll consider revising the BAU levels if necessary.”

Changes to the 2020 emissions projections could hurt the South Korean government’s credibility with the international community, since it would mean altering the standards for honoring its publicly pledged national emission reduction targets.

Critics called the decision an evasive measure that leaves the real burden of greenhouse gas reductions for the next administration. Failure to introduce the low-carbon cooperation fund system would also add the list of pledges the Park Geun-hye administration has failed to keep, as it was included in the implementation plan for a “proactive response to climate change through greenhouse gas reductions” - one of the governance tasks established for the administration under the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

In 2009, Park’s predecessor Lee Myung-bak pledged to reduce South Korea’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from their projected levels without active reduction efforts. After Park took office, a reduction plan was formulated to honor the international pledge. If the system changes announced on Sept. 2 take effect, South Korea could find itself hard-pressed to keep those promises.

The decision to postpone introducing the low carbon cooperation fund, which has a start date of Jan. 1, 2015, according to the Clean Air Conservation Act, is being pointed to as a particularly bad precedent, since it would mean the administration waited until just four months before implementation before bowing to industry pressures and backing off from a system that was written into law after a long public debate.

Lawmakers on the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee from the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy held a joint press conference at the National Assembly on Sept. 2 to denounce what they called a “direct challenge to the National Assembly’s legislative authority.”

There could also be a major battle during the Clean Air Conservation Act amendment process needed to postpone the cooperation fund’s introduction.

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories