Prime Minister Jeong: "We Must Enhance Capabilities Through Climate Change Adaptation Technology Development and Industry Promotion"

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-kyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on the 3rd, "We must enhance adaptation capacity through the development of technologies and industrial promotion related to climate change adaptation, such as flood and wind disaster prevention, protection of agriculture, fisheries, and ecosystems."

On the same day, Prime Minister Chung held the 17th Thursday Dialogue at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, under the theme "How Should We Adapt to Climate Change?" He stated, "It is important to reduce damage caused by climate change while simultaneously 'utilizing climate change as an opportunity."

Prime Minister Chung also said, "Climate change can pose greater risks to vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone, residents of jjokbangchon (small room villages), outdoor workers, and residents in vulnerable areas like habitual flood zones and landslide risk areas," urging the prompt establishment of support measures for climate change vulnerable groups.

Furthermore, he expressed regret over the significant damage caused by Typhoon Bavi followed by Typhoon Maysak in Jeju Island and the southern coastal areas, stating, "While making every effort to restore the damage, we will also do our best to proactively strengthen facility management and disaster prevention capabilities to minimize typhoon damage, which may become more frequent and severe due to climate change."

During this Thursday Dialogue, experts in meteorology, climate, health, and disaster prevention discussed ways to minimize damage to the public's health and property in response to the recent consecutive abnormal weather events.

The dialogue began with a presentation titled "Climate Crisis, From Massive Acceleration to Bold Transition" by former Director of the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, Cho Cheon-ho. The discussion reviewed the current status and causes of meteorological anomalies such as floods, extreme droughts, and heatwaves, and predicted the future impacts of climate change.

It was forecasted that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, temperatures will rise more steeply, intensifying extreme weather phenomena. This will undermine our survival foundations through water shortages, droughts, food shortages, biodiversity collapse, and sea-level rise, significantly affecting society as a whole.

Additionally, since the effects of climate change are expected to persist for decades, the importance of "adaptation" was emphasized. The dialogue confirmed the need to strengthen sector-specific measures such as disaster prevention against heavy rainfall, health measures against heatwaves and emerging infectious diseases, as well as the necessity of raising awareness and education for the entire population to adapt to climate change together.

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