Incheon City Launches Signature Campaign to Host the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties

Campaign to Collect 1 Million Signatures by the End of This Year
Expected Economic Impact of 160 Billion KRW and Creation of 1,000 Jobs

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City has officially launched efforts to host the 28th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) scheduled for 2023.

The city announced on the 30th that following the launch of the 'COP28 Hosting Promotion Team' in May, it will carry out a campaign to collect one million signatures in support of hosting COP28 in Incheon by the end of December this year.

The signature campaign, targeting the entire population, has been conducted simultaneously online and offline since the 23rd of last month. Online participation is possible via the Incheon City website or by scanning a QR code with a smartphone, while offline signatures can be submitted using forms available at city hall, district offices, and community centers.

Once the one million signature campaign concludes, the city plans to submit the results to the Ministry of Environment when the call for bids to host COP28 begins.

The UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties is an international meeting where representatives from 197 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have gathered annually since 1995 at the end of each year to discuss environmental agendas such as preventing global warming.

The conference rotates by continent. Last year’s conference, originally scheduled to be held in the UK, was postponed to this year due to COVID-19, delaying the overall schedule. Consequently, the Asia-Pacific conference will be held over two weeks in November 2023.

With 20,000 to 30,000 attendees including government representatives from the 197 parties, international organizations, civil society groups, and industry, hosting COP28 is expected to generate an economic effect of 160 billion KRW and create approximately 1,000 jobs.

Incheon City previously hosted the 48th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in 2018 and the 2019 UN Climate Change Adaptation Week, and is actively participating in the implementation of the UNFCCC by planning to host the 2021 UN Climate Change Adaptation Week this December.

In particular, to actively respond to climate change, the city joined the International Coal Transition Alliance last year and has promoted declarations to phase out coal. Additionally, by expanding eco-friendly energy supply to achieve carbon neutrality, Incheon ranked first among 243 local governments nationwide in the 2020 public sector greenhouse gas target management evaluation.

An Incheon City official stated, "If the hosting of COP28 in Incheon is successful, it will be an opportunity not only to revitalize the local economy but also to enhance the city’s status and brand value as a leading city in climate change," adding, "Along with the signature campaign, we will develop various strategies to highlight Incheon as the optimal city to host COP28 and devote our efforts to securing the hosting rights."

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