Goyang City Declares "Carbon Neutrality," Challenges to "Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions"

Approximately 82.5 Billion Won Invested, 330 Electric Buses Introduced
Nation's First 'Tree Rights Declaration' Proclaimed... 32.8% Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target

Panoramic View of Janghang Wetland in Goyang [Provided by Goyang City]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Youngcheol] Since last year, Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province, which declared a 'Climate Crisis Emergency Declaration' and has been actively pursuing carbon neutrality, set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 32.8% compared to the 2030 Business As Usual (BAU) projection on the occasion of Environment Day on the 5th.

Goyang City announced on the 4th, "We have first prepared environmental policies that comply with the Paris Agreement and have specified 92 greenhouse gas reduction projects."

The Paris Agreement is an accord adopted by 195 countries, including South Korea, at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Paris in 2015. Participating countries pledged efforts to limit the global average temperature increase to within 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and ideally to 1.5°C.

According to the city, various dissemination projects are underway to create an energy self-sufficient city, including the installation of 'solar power generation facilities and citizen solar power plants.'

From 2018 over four years, Goyang City has expanded its renewable energy installation capacity annually: 491 kW in 2018, 1,320 kW in 2019, 2,455 kW in 2020, and 2,546 kW in 2021.

Operation of 'biomass energy facilities' using gases from food waste and livestock manure achieves an annual greenhouse gas reduction effect of 4,000 tons.

The city established the 'Green Building Support Ordinance' to lay out a blueprint for constructing a green city, and for the first time nationwide, declared a 'Tree Rights Declaration,' mandating double-row street tree planting and creating a 100-ri forest trail along riversides.

Additionally, as a countermeasure for the 'transportation sector,' identified as the city's top carbon emitter, approximately 82.5 billion KRW will be invested to sequentially introduce a total of 330 electric buses within five years. Since this accounts for 75% of buses, the city explains that it can reduce about 282 tons of fine dust annually.

Under the plan to replace all official vehicles with electric cars, a total of 206 electric and hybrid vehicles are being prepared by this year.

To increase bicycle users, the shared bicycle service 'Tajo (TAZO)' has been operated since last month, deploying 1,000 bicycles. An additional 2,000 bicycles are planned to be added by next year.

Furthermore, the city is encouraging citizen participation through active campaigns such as the 'Reduce 1 Ton of Greenhouse Gas per Person' movement and presentations on 'Low-Carbon Lifestyle Practice Cases.'

From the 28th, a three-day '2021 Goyang Urban Forum' will be held with the themes of 'Environment, Urban Regeneration, and Lifelong Education' to publicize the agenda on the climate crisis.

Mayor Lee Jaejun of Goyang City emphasized, "The climate crisis is an urgent survival issue that all life on Earth faces and an existential topic for future generations."

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