South Korea has upped its emission reduction target to 40% by 2030. This is a significant improvement over the Asian country’s target of 26.3% set in 2020. Both targets use 2018 emission levels as a base.
This new environmental goal was announced by the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, during a committee meeting on achieving carbon neutrality.
South Korea presently gets over 40% of its electricity from coal-powered stations, with only 6% coming from clean sources. The country’s manufacturing industry is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. This shows the great challenge South Korea will face in achieving the target.
Part of the strategy is to cut coal-plant generated power by half by 2030 and increase renewable energy share to 30.2%. It will also see 4.5 million vehicles powered by batteries and hydrogen on the road by 2025. Infrastructure for charging electric vehicles will also receive attention.
To reach the emission reduction goal, South Korea has earmarked about $10 billion. The goal for net-zero by 2050 is still in place, but it would be welcome if brought backward.
Back in 2020, President Moon Jae-in revealed the Green New Deal, which aimed to create new jobs and help the country recover from the effect of the pandemic.
President Moon Jae-in described the move, “This is the most ambitious reduction target possible under our circumstances. The goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions [by] 40% shows the nation’s strong willingness for carbon neutrality and responsibility toward the international community.”
This ambitious announcement comes ahead of the UN’s COP26 summit taking place in Glasgow, Scotland. It will start on October 31. The conference will try to get more ambitious action plans from participating countries on limiting global warming.
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