Dobong-gu Mayor Lee Dong-jin Presents 'Earth Charter for Human Rights in Cities' at World Human Rights Cities Forum

Sharing Dobong-gu's Climate Crisis Response Policy Cases from a Human Rights Perspective and Emphasizing the Role of Local Governments... Presentation on Designing '2050 Carbon Neutrality' through Four 'P's?Pledge, Plan, Proceed, Publish?Reflecting Dobong-gu's Regional Characteristics

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Lee Dong-jin, Mayor of Dobong-gu (Chairman of the Korean Human Rights Cities Council), participated as a presenter in the session "Earth Charter for Human Rights in Cities" on October 6, the first day of the World Human Rights Cities Forum, sharing cases of pursuing climate crisis response policies from a human rights perspective and emphasizing the role of local governments.

The World Human Rights Cities Forum has been held annually in Gwangju, South Korea since 2011 to realize the vision of human rights cities.

This year marks the 11th World Human Rights Cities Forum, where domestic and international human rights city officials, human rights organizations and groups, human rights activists, human rights administrators, and citizens participate. Under the theme "Disasters and Human Rights: A New Social Contract," the forum is held both on-site and online from October 7 to October 10 at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju.

At the forum, Lee Dong-jin, Mayor of Dobong-gu, pointed out that the "climate crisis" is a major threat to human rights that endangers the life and health of humanity worldwide and exacerbates inequality, emphasizing that the correlation between climate and human rights is not a future issue but an immediate concern.

He also mentioned that the Paris Agreement adopted in December 2015 recognizes and calls for the participation of local governments as key actors in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Since cities, where more than half (55%) of the world's population resides, account for over 70% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, it is urgently necessary for local governments to establish and implement substantial reduction policies at the city level.

He presented Dobong-gu’s proactive activities for "climate rights" to address this.

▲ The "Climate Crisis Emergency Declaration" in June 2020 with nationwide basic local governments and the "Pledge" through the "Carbon Neutral Local Government Practice Alliance" in July 2020 ▲ The "Plan" by establishing and announcing the first "2050 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy" among Seoul’s autonomous districts ▲ The "Proceed" with 61 projects under 7 major strategies ▲ The "Publish" of results through public-private governance and international GCoM, explaining Dobong-gu’s four-stage structure (Four ‘P’s) design for "2050 Carbon Neutrality."

Additionally, he introduced efforts to raise residents’ awareness and willingness to act on the climate crisis, such as the carbon neutrality campaign "Top 10 Greenhouse Gas Reductions I Practice," the practical manual "Dobong Residents’ Carbon Neutrality Practice Guidelines," the green education specialized institution "Dobong Environmental Education Center," and the "Intergenerational Climate Change Response Education."

Lee Dong-jin was elected as the 2nd Chairman of the Korean Human Rights Cities Council in June 2020. Internationally, he announced a declaration supporting Myanmar’s democratization movement, and domestically, he published a casebook sharing human rights policies of member cities, sharing it with 226 local governments nationwide, leading local governments’ activities and participation for the promotion of human rights both at home and abroad.

Since enacting the Human Rights Basic Ordinance in 2013, Dobong-gu has established a human rights foundation by installing and operating a Human Rights Committee and Human Rights Center, running resident human rights schools and outreach human rights education, conducting human rights impact assessments, and operating a human rights policy evaluation group. It is currently implementing a broad range of human rights policies through the 2nd Basic Human Rights Policy Plan (2021?2024) to create "Dobong, a human rights city where everyone participates without discrimination and is respected."

At the forum, Mayor Lee Dong-jin of Dobong-gu stated, “I hope that various cases from Dobong-gu, one of South Korea’s local governments, can be a small help to the efforts of regions around the globe to overcome the climate crisis. Furthermore, I pay tribute to all those working around the world to protect human life, safety, and human rights from the climate crisis.”

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