Professor Choi Young-su of Sookmyung Women's University Proposes Evaluating All Seoul City Budgets from a Climate Impact Perspective

The 3rd General Meeting and Research Presentation of the 2nd Budget Policy Research Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council

Chairman Kim Kyung

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The 2nd Budget Policy Research Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Councilor Kim Kyung, proportional representation) held a full meeting on the 22nd via a non-face-to-face online video conference in accordance with the government's COVID-19 quarantine guidelines.

The Budget Policy Research Committee was established to conduct legislative activities related to the budget, settlement of accounts, and local finance of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, as well as budget and financial research activities for the development of city administration. It is composed of 15 city council members and 10 budget and finance experts.

At the meeting, the committee discussed the next operational schedule and finalized the research presentation topics and presenters.

Leveraging the expertise of external specialists, research topics linked to Seoul's budget and finance were selected, and research presentations and discussions were planned.

In the subsequent research presentations, three committee members?Yoon Young-jin, Choi Young-soo, and Kim Hyun-hoon?presented their research results, followed by Q&A and discussions among the members.

Committee member Yoon Young-jin (Professor Emeritus at Keimyung University) presented on the topic "Evaluation and Tasks of Fiscal Decentralization under the Moon Jae-in Administration," pointing out issues such as the gap between revenue decentralization and expenditure decentralization, the continuous increase in dependency on transfer resources, and the mismatch between functions (authority) and resources. He proposed several improvement measures including fiscal decentralization reform as a ‘local finance package-type innovation’ linking ‘local taxes-local grants-national subsidies,’ a comprehensive system reform approach, and reestablishing a new ‘intergovernmental fiscal relationship’ that corresponds to the allocation of functions and finances.

Committee member Choi Young-soo (Professor at Sookmyung Women’s University) researched "Discussion on the Introduction of Climate (Recognition) Budget System for COVID-19 Situation and the Future," recognizing the causes of infectious diseases as human behaviors leading to natural destruction, environmental damage, and infectious disease outbreaks. He proposed classifying and evaluating all Seoul city budgets from the perspective of climate impact, linked with domestic and international climate budget system promotion methods for carbon neutrality.

Carbon neutrality (=Net Zero) refers to a zero state where greenhouse gas emissions (+) and absorption (-) are balanced so that greenhouse gases no longer increase.

Committee member Kim Hyun-hoon (Chairman of the Social Welfare Corporation Happiness Creation) researched "Analysis of Seoul City Social Welfare Finance," comparing the execution rates of social welfare budgets by local governments, and detailed social welfare projects such as elderly and youth sectors, housing, and vulnerable groups. He suggested the need for regular inspections of project progress and budget execution, especially for projects with low execution rates, to ensure the necessity and rationality of the projects.

Kim Kyung, Chairman of the 2nd Budget Policy Research Committee, stated, “As economic difficulties are intensifying due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, efficient financial management is more necessary than ever. We will actively utilize today’s research presentations in legislative activities and strive to improve the quality of life for citizens through the Seoul Metropolitan Council.”

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