Ministry of Environment to Strengthen Climate and Environmental Cooperation with Major Countries at COP26

Minister Han Jeong-ae Holds Bilateral Talks with France, China, India, USA, Australia, and UN-Habitat

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Environment announced on the 7th that it participated in the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, from the 31st of last month to the 12th of this month, and decided to strengthen climate and environmental cooperation with major countries.

First, Minister of Environment Han Jeong-ae signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on environmental cooperation with Indonesia and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). In addition, she actively engaged in bilateral cooperation by meeting with 10 ministers and vice ministers from a total of 9 countries including France, Mongolia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, China, the United States, Brunei, and Australia, as well as the secretaries-general of three international organizations: the Global Green Growth Institute, the Asian Development Bank, and UN-Habitat.

On the 2nd, she held a bilateral meeting with Barbara Pompili, Minister of Ecological Transition of France, to discuss climate environment and biodiversity cooperation between the two countries. Both sides discussed ways to transition to and expand renewable energy for achieving carbon neutrality and confirmed the importance of securing reliable climate finance to urge global climate action. Furthermore, Korea pledged to continue cooperation for the successful adoption of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) strategic plan for biodiversity, to be held in Kunming, China, in April next year, as a member of the coalition of friendly countries expanding protected biodiversity areas led by France.

On the same day, she also held a bilateral meeting with Nyamjav Urtnasan, Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia, to discuss cooperation in climate and environmental fields such as greenhouse gas reduction projects and Green New Deal official development assistance (ODA). Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation covering climate change, air quality, and waste sectors through the Korea-Mongolia Environmental Policy Consultative Body and promised to renew the environmental cooperation MOU between the two countries soon based on this bilateral meeting.

She also met with Tran Hong Ha, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam. Both sides agreed to expand cooperation on environment and climate change response, specifically sharing concrete cooperation plans on sustainable water resource management and solid waste. Additionally, they agreed to actively cooperate to create a cooperation model based on Korea’s accumulated experience and expertise for the successful establishment and operation of the Vietnam Biodiversity Exhibition and Education Center, a key project of the Vietnamese government.

On the 3rd, she held consecutive bilateral meetings with the Minister of Public Housing and Minister of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia, the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, and the Secretary-General of the Global Green Growth Institute. Meeting with Basuki Hadimuljono, Minister of Public Housing of Indonesia, a key partner country of Korea’s New Southern Policy, they discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the water sector. Both sides agreed to enhance various water-related cooperation, including floating solar power projects, as part of expanding renewable energy for carbon neutrality. Minister Basuki requested Korea to share its experience in smart city design based on information and communication technology (ICT) for Indonesia’s capital relocation.

Next, Minister Han met with Siti Nurbaya, Minister of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia, and signed an MOU to strengthen bilateral cooperation on climate change, biodiversity, water management, waste, and overall environmental issues. Both sides agreed to establish a joint consultative committee to continuously share environmental policies and monitor implementation to achieve tangible results in key cooperation areas under the MOU. At this meeting, Minister Han requested active interest and support, including expanding export volumes, from Indonesia, which is the second-largest exporter of urea to Korea after China, to resolve the recently emerging supply-demand imbalance of urea solution.

Minister Han also held a bilateral meeting with Frank Rijsberman, Secretary-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). They discussed cooperation plans such as greenhouse gas reduction projects in developing countries and agreed to strengthen overall environmental cooperation through signing an MOU. Notably, during this meeting, affiliated organizations such as the Korea Water Resources Corporation and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute also signed MOUs with GGGI to promote technical support and project discovery cooperation in various fields including the water industry and official development assistance.

On the afternoon of the 3rd, Minister Han held a bilateral meeting with Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, where they had in-depth discussions on ongoing negotiations for international carbon market guidelines at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties and shared their countries’ climate change policies. Both countries agreed to finalize the ongoing environmental cooperation MOU negotiations within the year and to sign the MOU promptly to broaden cooperation in various fields such as green recovery and climate change response.

On the 4th, she met with the Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate, the Secretary-General of the Asian Development Bank, the Minister of Development of Brunei, the Minister of Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction of Australia, and the Secretary-General of UN-Habitat to discuss environmental and climate issues. Minister Han met with Zhao Yingmin, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, and agreed to actively utilize the Korea-China Environmental Cooperation Center and the Korea-China Joint Environmental Research Laboratory, scheduled for completion this year, to expand cooperation in environmental fields such as fine dust and climate policy as part of the Northeast Asia breathing community.

Both sides shared trends on coal phase-out and carbon emissions trading system introduction and exchanged views on major climate issues. Minister Han requested China’s active cooperation to enable urea exports through close bilateral cooperation.

With Jonathan Pershing, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate, detailed discussions were held on ongoing negotiations such as international carbon market guidelines and broad discussions on both countries’ carbon neutrality, coal phase-out, and climate change response policies. Especially, Special Envoy Pershing expressed strong support for Korea’s ambitious 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target of a 40% reduction compared to 2018.

Minister Han also met with Dato Suhaimi Gafar, Minister of Development of Brunei, and expressed gratitude to Brunei for successfully leading the ASEAN Summit as the ASEAN chair this year. Both sides explored environmental cooperation areas such as sharing circular economy policies, floating solar power projects, and joint research in biodiversity, and agreed to promote signing an MOU to strengthen climate and environmental cooperation.

Meanwhile, on the afternoon of the 4th, Minister Han attended a side event titled “Climate Education! Core Roles and Tasks Toward Carbon Neutrality” hosted by the National Assembly Climate Change Forum at the Korea Pavilion and held a meeting with Korean youth. Minister Han emphasized the important role of education in gaining public consensus on greenhouse gas reduction and requested the future generation to continuously raise their voices for realizing a carbon-neutral society. The government promised to meet the expectations of future generations through carbon neutrality policies.

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