'2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenario' to be Released by End of October... Carbon Neutrality Committee Considers Linking with Additional NDC Enhancement

Tanjungwi Reveals Schedule for Establishing 2050 Scenario

(Photo) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The '2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenario,' a greenhouse gas reduction scenario aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, will be announced around the end of October this year. It will be discussed alongside the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) greenhouse gas reduction target, with the 2050 carbon neutrality scenario revealed first, followed by an announcement of the additional upward revision of the NDC at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) on Climate Change, scheduled for early November.

On the 1st, the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Committee held a general planning committee meeting the previous day to review the schedule for establishing the 2050 scenario and decided accordingly.

Yoon Soon-jin, co-chair of the Carbon Neutrality Committee, explained, "First, since the committee's launch was delayed by about three months from the original plan (from February to May), it was necessary to secure sufficient time at the committee level to review the 2050 scenario. Also, the schedule for raising the 2030 NDC was moved forward to early November during the Moon Jae-in administration’s term at the 26th Conference of the Parties, which raised the need to review it in connection with the 2050 scenario." Considering the need for in-depth internal review, sufficient time to gather public opinions, and linkage with the 2030 NDC, it was decided to announce the 2050 scenario at the end of October.

The Carbon Neutrality Committee plans to review the 2050 scenario draft within this month and prepare a committee proposal. Based on this, the 2030 NDC will be reviewed, and the committee proposal is expected to be finalized in August. Subsequently, opinions from various sectors including industry, labor, youth, civil society, and local governments will be collected, along with a public policy participation group’s national debate and an online survey for the general public. Based on these, the final 2050 scenario will be announced after deliberation and resolution at the full committee meeting in October and the Cabinet meeting.

On this day, the Carbon Neutrality Committee drew a clear line regarding the '2050 scenario draft' reported by some media as 'basic data for discussion.' Chair Yoon stated, "The technical working groups proposed the 2050 greenhouse gas emissions through professional reviews of ten sectors including industry, transportation, buildings, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, carbon sinks, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), and energy transition. Issues such as whether to maintain coal power plants, the appropriateness of energy demand forecasts in the industrial sector, the transition of internal combustion engine vehicles to eco-friendly vehicles in transportation, the ecological impact of carbon sink creation such as reforestation, and the feasibility and accuracy of CCUS reduction estimates have been raised. The committee is conducting in-depth discussions and analyses on each issue through subcommittees and expert committees," he explained.

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