Gwangju City Signs Business Agreement with Korea RE100 Committee

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "We Will Build a Carbon-Neutral, Energy-Self-Reliant City"

On the afternoon of the 18th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, signed the "Gwangju-type RE100 Business Agreement" for mutual cooperation among Gwangju Metropolitan City, the Korea RE100 Committee, and the Gwangju Enterprises RE100 Promotion Council in the city hall business room. From the left, second from the left are Kim Kwang-ran, Chairperson of the Green New Deal Special Committee, Lee Myung-joo, Professor at Myongji University, Jin Woo-sam, Chairperson of the Korea RE100 Committee, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, and Kim Hyung-soon, CEO of Marine Energy. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has joined hands with the ‘Korea RE100 Committee,’ a specialized support organization for RE100 (Renewable Energy 100%), embarking on a bold journey to realize a ‘2045 Carbon Neutral Energy Self-Reliant City.’

On the afternoon of the 18th, Gwangju Metropolitan City signed the ‘Gwangju-type RE100 Business Agreement’ with the Korea RE100 Committee and the Gwangju Enterprise RE100 Promotion Council at the City Hall Business Room. The signing ceremony was attended by Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju, Kim Kwang-ran, Chairperson of the Green New Deal Special Committee of the Gwangju City Council, Jin Woo-sam, Chairperson of the Korea RE100 Committee, Kim Hyung-soon, Representative of the Gwangju Enterprise RE100 Promotion Council, and Professor Lee Myung-joo of Myongji University.

The Korea RE100 Committee is composed of about 20 experts in energy and climate change from the Korean Society of New and Renewable Energy. Established in 2019, it supports voluntary participation in RE100 by domestic companies.

Last November, it established the Korean-style RE100 (K-RE100) membership criteria, signed a cooperation MOU for RE100 in the Saemangeum Industrial Complex, and provides advisory services for RE100 in Chungcheongnam-do.

According to the agreement, the Korea RE100 Committee will provide Gwangju with information on global RE100 policies and technical standards, open a secretariat in Gwangju, and promote projects supporting consultation, review, and monitoring of Gwangju companies’ RE100 membership, corporate investment attraction, and renewable energy procurement. Gwangju City will support activities necessary for the implementation of the agreement.

Additionally, the ‘Gwangju RE100 Promotion Council’ supports participation in RE100 by companies based in Gwangju through energy efficiency improvements, direct installation of renewable energy, and purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC).

The city expects that through systematic information provision and consultation by experts under this agreement, companies located in Gwangju will gain momentum in converting 100% of their required energy to renewable energy.

Recently, the international community, including advanced countries such as the European Union (EU), is strengthening eco-friendly regulations by considering the introduction of a ‘carbon border tax’ (imposing tariffs on imported products with high carbon emissions).

Moreover, global major companies that have declared RE100, such as BMW and Apple, have been requiring their parts suppliers to use renewable energy for several years.

For South Korea, which is highly dependent on foreign trade, the introduction of low-carbon and eco-friendly management like RE100 is essential to strengthen export competitiveness. Gwangju is proactively supporting corporate eco-friendly management by forming the ‘Enterprise RE100 Promotion Council.’

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju, said, “The Korea RE100 Committee has greatly contributed to lowering the threshold for Korean companies to join RE100 by establishing Korean-style RE100 membership criteria,” adding, “Through this business agreement, we will borrow the committee’s ideas and capabilities to make Gwangju a world-leading carbon-neutral energy self-reliant city pioneering RE100.”

Meanwhile, along with the signing ceremony, Gwangju held a special lecture attended by about 50 people including city council members, experts, citizens, and public officials on Gwangju-type RE100 promotion, building carbon neutrality measures, and the construction of solar power spatial information using drones.

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