Mayor Heo Seok of Suncheon: "Achieving Carbon Neutrality through Garden Cities"

Policy Presentation at the Asia-Pacific Urban Summit and 2021 Human City Suwon Forum

[Suncheon = Asia Economy, Honam Bureau, Lee Hyungwon] Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, announced on October 7 that he participated in the Asia-Pacific Urban Summit and the 2021 Human City Suwon Forum held at the Suwon Convention Center on October 5, where he gave a presentation on "Achieving Carbon Neutrality through Garden Cities," using the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo as a case study.

The Suwon Forum was held both online and offline in conjunction with the 4th Asia-Pacific Environment Ministers Forum. Domestic and international local government leaders attended to discuss policies aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, focusing particularly on nature-based policies, with the goal of spreading these initiatives throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the global community.

Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon, was invited as a panelist for the local government session. Under the theme "Tasks and Strategies for Local Governments to Achieve Carbon Neutral Cities," he explained Suncheon's case of transforming the entire city into a garden. He cited the 2013 Suncheonman International Garden Expo and the upcoming 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo as examples of how the city is realizing carbon neutrality through garden-based green infrastructure.

Mayor Heo particularly emphasized that, just as the Suncheonman mudflats have been preserved through the proactive efforts of Suncheon citizens, the upcoming expo will be a citizen-led event involving all 280,000 residents through initiatives such as planting "child trees" and "companion trees." He stated that the urban greening efforts will not only address climate change but also serve as a model case for Korea's Green New Deal by fostering ecological industries and revitalizing the local economy.

Meanwhile, forum participants adopted the "Joint Declaration of Local Governments for Both Humanity and Nature" and delivered it to the Asia-Pacific Environment Ministers Forum. They also pledged to promote exchange and cooperation not only within Korea but also with local governments across the Asia-Pacific region.

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