Kim Mikyung, Eunpyeong District Mayor, Meets Environment Minister to Propose Increased Budget for Climate Change Response Including Pest Outbreaks

Kim Mikyung, Eunpyeong District Mayor, Meets Environment Minister Cho Myungrae to Discuss Local Environmental Policies... Large-scale Pest Control Due to Giant Bug Outbreak from Warming in Eunpyeong Bongsan Area

Kim Mi-kyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong District (right), met with Cho Myung-rae, Minister of Environment, to discuss Eunpyeong District's environmental policies.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim Mi-kyung, the mayor of Eunpyeong District Office, met with Cho Myung-rae, Minister of Environment, on the 17th to discuss Eunpyeong District's environmental policies and requested an increase in the local government allocation ratio of the 'Environmental Improvement Charge' to expand the budget for climate change response.

Recently, due to climate change, local governments face rising response costs, and the demand from local residents for creating a pleasant urban environment in the environmental sector is increasing. However, it is widely agreed that local governments find immediate response difficult due to budget shortages.

In fact, Eunpyeong District is currently engaged in pest control work due to a mass outbreak of giant caterpillars in the Bongsan area. Dr. Park Ji-hyun of the National Institute of Forest Science (specializing in tree hospital pests and diseases) stated, "Because last winter was warmer than usual, the giant caterpillar eggs did not die and hatched in large numbers, causing the outbreak."

Since the first complaint related to the giant caterpillar outbreak was received on July 7, Eunpyeong District has conducted two rounds of pest control and is considering chemical control and drone pest control in the Bongsan area going forward.

Accordingly, Mayor Kim Mi-kyung of Eunpyeong District proposed that the Ministry of Environment increase the local government allocation ratio of the collected Environmental Improvement Charge from the current 10% (9% for autonomous districts, 1% for Seoul city) to 30%.

The increased budget aims to prepare for climate disasters such as pest outbreaks caused by rising average temperatures and to connect these efforts to related job creation, which is Mayor Kim’s plan.

Mayor Kim Mi-kyung stated, "Climate disasters caused by rising temperatures are becoming frequent, and as local governments' field response tasks increase, securing related budgets proactively is urgent. I proposed this to the Minister of Environment," adding, "We will seek additional proposals to increase the amount of climate change response budgets directly linked to the lives of residents and to improve the quality of response projects in solidarity with other local governments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.