GLASGOW, Scotland– South Korea plans to invest about 73 trillion won (US$62 billion) in its signature green energy initiatives by 2025 in a bid to achieve its carbon neutrality goal and spur economic growth, the finance minister said Tuesday.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remark during his welcoming speech at a global seminar on green energy in Glasgow on the sidelines of the annual U.N. climate conference.
Hong said actions to fight the climate crisis should serve as new “engines for growth” as illustrated by the Korean government’s key Green New Deal projects.
“Korea plans to invest tens of billions of dollars, equivalent to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, by 2025, in the green sector as part of the Korean New Deal, while also utilizing government financing to mobilize green investment from the private sector for a balance between carbon neutrality and economic growth,” Hong said.
South Korea is pushing for the Green New Deal as part of its broader goal to go carbon neutral by 2050.
President Moon Jae-in officially declared South Korea’s commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2018 levels by 2030 during his keynote speech at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow.
The country’s reduction target marks a sharp raise from its previous goal of 26.3 percent.
Hong also said South Korea plans to further enhance the emission trading system (ETS), in which companies can buy extra emissions rights when they surpass their own quota.
To promote international cooperation on the climate challenge, South Korea plans to more than triple its low-interest rate loans for green energy projects sought after by emerging countries by 2025, he added.
Source: Yonhap News Agency