Gwangju City Awarded National 'Best' in Environmental Management... Presidential Institutional Commendation

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 24th that it was selected as the best institution nationwide in the “Local Government Emission Facility Environmental Management Evaluation” conducted by the Ministry of Environment for local governments across the country in the first half of this year, and received the Presidential Institutional Award.

Gwangju was evaluated as excellent for ▲ enhancing inspection efficiency through on-site guidance and inspection of emission facilities and joint and cross-inspections with related organizations ▲ education and training of environmental officials and operation of an environmental monitoring network ▲ administrative and financial support for economically disadvantaged small and medium-sized businesses, ranking first among metropolitan cities and provinces.

In this evaluation, Seo-gu and Gwangsan-gu were also selected as excellent institutions in the basic local government category, confirming that Gwangju’s management of environmentally polluting emission facilities is being conducted as a model.

To overcome the limitations of on-site inspections and improve inspection efficiency, Gwangju secured 1.1 billion KRW in full national funding through a Ministry of Science and ICT public project last year and installed an AI-based air pollution prevention facility management system, the first of its kind nationwide, at 42 businesses in the Hanam Industrial Complex, shifting from a post-management system to a preventive system.

Additionally, together with a group of over 120 environmental experts at the Green Environment Support Center, Gwangju continuously supports businesses with insufficient environmental management capabilities to develop autonomous operational capacity, and since last year, it has supported 11.9 billion KRW for the replacement of outdated prevention facilities at 116 economically disadvantaged small and medium-sized businesses to provide practical assistance.

This evaluation praised Gwangju as the best environmental management institution nationwide for its scientific monitoring system that moves away from unilateral crackdowns and for promoting administrative and financial support with local experts to help businesses enhance their own environmental management capabilities.

Meanwhile, the “Local Government Emission Facility Environmental Management Evaluation,” led by the Ministry of Environment, is conducted annually to encourage autonomous management of pollutant-emitting businesses by local governments, evaluating based on nine indicators in three areas: inspection rate, violation rate, and network establishment targeting emission facilities.

Song Yong-su, head of the city’s Environmental Policy Division, said, “We will not be satisfied with this evaluation result and will continue to do our best in managing emission facilities,” adding, “Considering the recent difficulties in on-site inspections due to COVID-19, we will also expand non-face-to-face inspections using the Internet of Things monitoring system.”

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