Ministry of Environment: "6.4 Trillion KRW Green Product Transactions in 2025... Targeting 50% Awareness"

Establishment of the 4th Basic Plan for Promoting the Purchase of Green Products

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government is stepping up efforts to expand 'green products' that save resources and generate fewer pollutants. By 2025, it plans to increase the transaction volume of green products by more than 2 trillion won compared to now and raise awareness so that half of the population knows what green products are.

The Ministry of Environment announced on the 3rd that it has established and will implement from this month the "4th Basic Plan for Promoting Green Product Purchases (2021?2025)," which includes measures to expand the production, distribution, and consumption of green products. This is a statutory plan formulated every five years under the "Act on the Promotion of Green Product Purchases."

Green products refer to products that save energy and resources and reduce pollutant emissions compared to other products with the same purpose. The scope includes "environmental label certified products," "low-carbon certified products," and "GR mark certified products (excellent recycled products)."

An official from the Ministry of Environment explained, "The 4th Basic Plan focuses on ways for citizens to practice eco-friendly consumption through green products in their daily lives, keeping pace with various policy environment changes such as the Green New Deal and carbon neutrality."

The four main strategies of the basic plan are ▲strengthening green consumption infrastructure ▲expanding green products centered on demand ▲promoting eco-friendly and ethical consumption in daily life ▲entering new green markets. Through these, the goal is to increase the total transaction amount of green products from 4.3958 trillion won in 2019 to 6.444 trillion won by 2025.

First, to expand the green market in the private sector, the plan strengthens the green consumption foundation by promoting green product sales and revitalizing green consumption hubs.

To promote green product sales, the number of designated green stores will be expanded, and an online green store designation system will be introduced. The plan is to increase green stores from 620 as of last year to 850 by 2025. 'Green specialized stores' that sell unpackaged bulk products and use eco-friendly packaging will also be expanded.

The Green Purchase Support Centers will be expanded from the current 8 locations to 17 by 2025. These centers will be utilized as hubs for fostering eco-friendly consumers, supporting green product production, and revitalizing distribution to promote regional green consumption culture.

Additionally, certification for green products frequently used in daily life will be expanded. Certification will be extended to lifestyle-related products such as personal hygiene products and household goods, and new certification standards will be established focusing on items that citizens can directly feel, such as adult diapers and dustproof nets.

Through this, the number of lifestyle-related green products is planned to increase from 1,063 as of last year to 3,000 by 2025.

Education and publicity will be conducted to encourage citizens to practice green consumption, and green consumption culture will be spread through the activation of Green Card usage.

Using various educational institutions such as Green Purchase Support Centers, green product education will be strengthened according to consumers' life cycles. Various events such as green consumption idea contests and using popular characters will raise public awareness of green products.

The goal is to raise the public awareness of green products from 16.5% in last year's survey to 50% by 2025.

The system will be improved to accumulate Eco Money points when paying for online products with the Green Card, and the issuance of Green Cards will be expanded. The plan is to issue 25 million Green Cards by 2025.

In addition, the government plans to expand the private market by linking new economic systems such as the sharing and subscription economy with green products and strengthen corporate consultation support to help companies enter overseas markets.

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