“We never agreed to a date”: S. Korea flip-flops after signing statement on phasing out coal power by 2030s

Posted on : 2021-11-08 15:47 KST Modified on : 2021-11-08 15:47 KST
South Korea signed a statement on phasing out coal power generation at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland, but now the government is claiming that it only committed to “working” to phase out coal power
At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday, signatory countries to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change introduce efforts they are taking to reduce coal use. (Choi Woo-ri/The Hankyoreh)
At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday, signatory countries to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change introduce efforts they are taking to reduce coal use. (Choi Woo-ri/The Hankyoreh)

The largest room at the center of the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, the host city for the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, was subject to the tightest security on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 4.

It’s in this location that announcements are made, with national leaders and high-ranking officials taking part. On Thursday, it was also the scheduled site for an announcement by world leaders joining the shift from fossil fuels toward clean energy.

As admittance became delayed, we struck up a conversation with a reporter from a Japanese newspaper. They were enthusiastic about talking, but cautioned, “The company won’t let me do interviews.”

That may have had something to do with remarks from newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who seemed to stress the need for fossil fuels.

Kishida recently asserted that “stable fuel supplies are more important than climate change.”

The Japanese reporter seemed to hold quite a dim view of Japan, which had just received the “Fossil of the Day” title — bestowed during the climate summit by Climate Action Network - International, a coalition of global climate and environmental groups, to criticize and mock Japan’s plans to keep its coal-fired electricity generation in place through 2050.

“Japan is extremely coal-dependent,” the reporter said, shaking their head.

Japan intends to keep the percentage of its electricity generation from coal at 19% through 2030. This puts it in a similar boat with South Korea, which listed a 21% reliance on coal energy in its nationally determined contribution (NDC) for greenhouse gas reduction by 2030.

When told about this similarity between South Korea and Japan, the reporter shared critical remarks about Japanese Minister of the Environment Shinjiro Koizumi, who touched off a controversy with his remarks last April that the 46% target in Japan’s NDC was a number that had “vaguely come to him.”

“He’s like some kind of poet or artist who is out of touch with reality,” the reporter lamented.

At the same time, they admitted, “There are a lot of practical constraints on the use of renewable energy in the Japanese environment. We have deep seas and a lot of mountains.”

Recognizing that the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy was easier said than done, we talked for some time about how frustrating the current situation is.

No Coal Japan, an organization opposing the use of coal in Japan, holds a protest on Thursday across from the Scottish Event Campus, where the UN climate summit COP26 is taking place. They are dressed as Pikachu, a character from a Japanese animation that emits electricity from its body. (provided by No Coal Japan)
No Coal Japan, an organization opposing the use of coal in Japan, holds a protest on Thursday across from the Scottish Event Campus, where the UN climate summit COP26 is taking place. They are dressed as Pikachu, a character from a Japanese animation that emits electricity from its body. (provided by No Coal Japan)

At the event, world leaders emphasized the importance of shifting energy sources in video messages, starting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and continuing with US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Next came an announcement of energy transition plans, mainly from the ministers from developing countries who were seated on the platform.

Environment and energy ministers from Morocco, Sri Lanka, Grenada and the Maldives gave statements expressing their commitment to transitioning to cleaner energy. After that came remarks of encouragement from US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, stressed the importance of green jobs.

Later that day, the UN released its “Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement.” In a press release, it said, “At least 23 countries have made new commitments today to phase out coal power, including five of the world’s top 20 coal power-using countries.”

Over 40 countries were indicated as signatories on the statement, while South Korea was among the five countries listed as examples of top generators of coal power committed to phasing out the use of coal.

The South Korean government added its name to a list including Indonesia and Vietnam — where South Korea is involved in overseas coal projects — as well as Poland, Egypt, Spain, Nepal, Singapore, Chile, and Ukraine. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Sung-wook signed the statement on behalf of South Korea.

In terms of regions, the US states of Hawaii and Oregon signed on — as did South Korea’s Jeju Island, in the name of Koo Man-seop, the island’s acting governor.

But the world’s major “pro-coal” powers — including China, India, Japan and Australia — did not take part in the statement. The only major economies included in it were Poland, South Korea and Spain.

The key content of the statement had to do with “accelerat[ing] a transition away from unabated coal power generation, as is essential to meet our shared goals under the Paris Agreement.”

In connection with this, the signatories indicated their intent to “rapidly scale up technologies and policies in this decade to achieve a transition away from unabated coal power generation in the 2030s (or as soon as possible thereafter) for major economies and in the 2040s (or as soon as possible thereafter) globally, consistent with our climate targets and the Paris Agreement” as laid out in the document’s second clause.

Hungary, Botswana and the Philippines endorsed only a portion of the provisions, while Indonesia was mentioned as “excluding clause 3.” No such stipulation was offered about South Korea’s endorsement.

With South Korea classified as a major economy, the statement could be read as indicating that it plans to completely discontinue the use of coal power within the 2030s. On that basis, activists with global climate and environment groups suggested that morning that the timeline for South Korea’s transition away from coal would fall in 2039.

If true, that would be big news. Coming after President Moon Jae-in declared in a COP26 keynote speech on Nov. 1 that South Korea planned to halt its use of coal for electricity generation “by 2050,” it would mean the government’s position on the matter had changed in the space of just three days.

But the South Korean government is saying that it never agreed to a statement specifying a specific date for its transition away from coal.

On Sunday, the Hankyoreh spoke to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of Environment (MOE), and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

The MOTIE said, “We support accelerating the transition to clean power, but we never agreed to a date for the transition away from coal. [South Korea’s inclusion in the statement] means that we’re working on [reducing coal use].”

The MOE said, “We haven’t heard anything about a statement [on transitioning away from coal by 2039].”

The MOFA said, “The MOTIE would never support that.”

The Vietnamese government pledges to reduce coal usage and transfer to renewable energy. (Choi Woo-ri/The Hankyoreh)
The Vietnamese government pledges to reduce coal usage and transfer to renewable energy. (Choi Woo-ri/The Hankyoreh)

Previously, there were reports in the international community that South Korea was signing onto a Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) statement on advanced economies eliminating coal power by 2030. But, in the end, the MOTIE said it had decided not to participate.

Following the latest developments, the MOTIE stressed that it had only agreed to the larger premise of “working” to phase out coal power but had not pledged to keep to any specific timeline for the transition.

An official with the MOTIE said, “It’s possible there may have been some misunderstanding during the compilation process as the UK was trying to produce results [as the country currently holding the COP presidency].”

But climate group activists who received reports about the negotiation process on the ground suggested that the South Korean government may have taken part in the statement without realizing what it meant.

By Choi Woo-ri and Kim Min-je, staff reporters

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

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