Ministry of Economy and Finance-P4G Hold Climate Finance Forum: "Global Policy Cooperation for Carbon Neutrality"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seonhee] The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 13th that it held a Climate Finance Forum jointly with the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G). The forum was organized under the theme of 'Climate Finance and Investment Promotion for Green Economic Transition.'

The event, held online, was attended by the diplomatic corps in Korea, P4G and Green Climate Fund (GCF) member government agencies, international organizations such as the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), related institutions, and academia.

Lee Eokwon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said in his opening remarks, "In the situation where the wave of climate change response is spreading, this is a good opportunity to strengthen the momentum of the upcoming P4G Seoul Summit next month and to share the directions of climate finance responses of Korea and the world." He then introduced three climate finance actions pursued by the Korean government: ▲supporting initial investment costs for carbon-neutral economic transition ▲preventing exclusion of vulnerable groups, SMEs, and developing countries ▲creating synergy in global climate response.

Vice Minister Lee added, "Despite the global consensus on climate change issues, concrete international cooperation is so difficult that it is said to be 'the last frontier we must pioneer until the end,'" and said, "As the host country, we will do our best so that the global community can take one step closer to 'achieving carbon neutrality through inclusive green recovery.'"

Following this, Yannick Gremarek, Secretary-General of the GCF, gave a congratulatory speech, stating, "The Korean government's '2050 Carbon Neutral Vision Declaration' announced last October contributed to promoting global climate change momentum," and added, "The carbon neutrality scenario to be announced by the Korean government in the first half of this year will serve as a model case for other countries." He also evaluated that "the P4G Summit will provide meaningful direction for public-private cooperation in implementing the Paris Agreement."

The first session of the forum was chaired by Kim Hyo-eun, Deputy Secretary-General of GGGI, and featured presentations on the theme of 'Global Climate Finance Trends and Carbon Neutrality Outlook.' Oyun Sanjaasuren, Director of External Relations at GCF, presented on 'Trends and Outlook of Climate Finance Utilization,' and Professor Jeong Taeyong of Yonsei University presented on 'Suggestions for the Development of Climate Finance.' Panelists included Simon Smith, British Ambassador to Korea; Einar H. Jensen, Danish Ambassador to Korea; and Jean-Christophe Donnelier, Co-Chair of France's GCF.

The second session, themed 'Green Finance and Investment Strategies for Green Economic Transition,' featured presentations by Ali Izadi, Head of Asia-Pacific at BloombergNEF, on 'Trends and Outlook of Green Investment and Asset Management,' and Allard Nooy, CEO of InfraCo Asia, on 'Green Finance Policy Trends.' The session was chaired by Sarbinder Singh, Director of Investment at P4G, with panelists including Lee Sehun, Director of Financial Policy Bureau at the Financial Services Commission; Kim Bokgyu, Vice President of the Korea Development Bank; Kim Yonghwan, Chairman of Macquarie Group; and Choi Manyeon, Representative of BlackRock.

This forum served as a preliminary event for the P4G Seoul Summit, which will be held in Korea over two days starting from the 30th of next month. The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "We plan to actively share and disseminate Korea's policies for carbon-neutral economic transition and continue to promote global policy cooperation activities for inclusive green recovery in the post-COVID-19 era."

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