"South Korea Must Transition Manufacturing Processes to Clean and Enhance Greenhouse Gas Absorption Rate"

Industrial Research Institute, Report on 'Biden Administration's Climate Crisis Policy as Seen Through the Climate Summit'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Amid the climate summit led by U.S. President Joe Biden last month, a recommendation has emerged that South Korea should actively respond to the climate crisis and focus on the green transition of its industrial sector.

On the 2nd, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) released a report titled 'Biden Administration's Climate Crisis Policy as Seen Through the Climate Summit' containing these insights.

The institute explained that President Biden has shown a proactive stance on climate change since his presidential campaign and emphasized his commitment to establishing climate change leadership through this summit. By expressing intentions such as leading the setting of carbon emission reduction targets, supporting developing countries' climate change responses, and establishing a system to identify climate finance projects and related activities, he has strived to lead international discussions on climate change responses, which had been driven by the European Union (EU).

It also predicted a high possibility of the U.S. and China building a cooperative relationship in responding to the climate crisis.

At this climate summit, South Korea announced plans to further raise its greenhouse gas reduction targets for this year and to halt public financial support for the construction of new overseas coal power plants.

The institute emphasized that South Korea must actively respond to climate change by transforming its economic and industrial structure. The institute explained, "Since South Korea has a high proportion of manufacturing and an industrial structure centered on carbon-intensive sectors such as steel and petrochemicals, it should convert existing processes in key manufacturing industries to clean alternatives while considering increasing greenhouse gas absorption rates."

It stressed that the expansion of clean energy should be recognized not as a price competitiveness issue of clean energy transition but as a transformation issue of the entire existing energy system, ensuring a sustainable green transition. In this regard, it recommended providing subsidies for new renewable energy installations and supporting the transition of workforce related to traditional energy industries to sustainable business models.

Additionally, it analyzed that South Korea should establish an external strategy to proactively respond to global environmental changes addressing the climate crisis.

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