Pres. Moon to come up with foundation to accomplish carbon neutrality by 2050 during remainder of his term Updated: 2020-11-27 17:02:25 KST

President Moon Jae-in is establishing a committee involving both the private sector and the government to focus on creating a carbon neutral country by 2050.
He will also appoint a vice minister for energy under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Some of the challenges in the push toward a carbon-neutral country include the manufacturing sector containing many large emitters of carbon and the country’s reliance on thermal power plants.
But President Moon said during a pan-government strategic meeting on Friday, that the country’s digital competitiveness could help speed up the process of becoming carbon neutral.

“We will transition away from fossil fuels so our main source of energy is renewable. We will expand the power grid, establish a region-based power distribution system, and foster new energy-related industries such as renewable energy, hydrogen, and energy IT.”

He emphasized that technology is the key to achieving the zero-carbon goal and added that research and development must focus on developing innovative technology.
In particular, future automobiles will be nurtured as the leading business for becoming carbon neutral.
The president’s plans include manufacturing and supplying more electric and hydrogen cars and also making more charging stations for these vehicles.
Another important task for South Korea is to strengthen global leadership on climate change.
It will do so by enhancing global cooperation through hosting the P4G summit in Seoul next year, actively promoting cooperative projects with the EU on carbon neutralization, and cooperating on climate change policy with the new Biden administration.
President Moon added that he will lay out a roadmap to carbon neutrality without leaving it up to the next government.
Hong Yoo, Arirang News.