"Carbon Neutrality, Industry Proposes Government Support for R&D and Increased Incentives"

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] To achieve the 2050 carbon neutrality goal, the government must increase innovation technology development and investment, as well as expand tax and financial support, the economic and industrial sectors proposed. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) named these suggestions the 4R Policy and conveyed the industry's proposals to the government at the 2nd Carbon Neutral Industrial Transition Promotion Committee held at the KCCI Hall on the 17th. This consultative body is a platform for the government and the economic sector to discuss carbon neutrality implementation plans in the industrial sector, co-chaired by KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Seung-wook.

First, the need for Research & Development (R&D) support for innovation technology development was emphasized as the first R. It was noted that Korea is about three years behind, at 80% of the level of advanced countries such as Europe and the United States, so the carbon neutrality budget should be increased. They argued that the preliminary feasibility study procedures for carbon neutrality technology R&D and the proportion borne by private companies should be minimized, and carbon neutrality technology should be designated as a national strategic technology. They also called for increased financial and tax support for facility investment and assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies in investing in greenhouse gas reduction facilities.

They stressed the need to activate Renewable Energy as well. For RE100 participating companies that supply 100% of their electricity consumption with renewable energy, they suggested reducing transmission and distribution network usage fees or creating conditions to expand renewable energy power purchase agreements. They advocated relaxing distance regulations for renewable energy facilities and increasing incentives for community-participatory renewable energy projects.

Additionally, they proposed increasing Resource Circulation while establishing an incentive and institutional foundation (Rebuilding Incentive System). They emphasized the need for government-level support to create markets where bio and new material technologies can be used or to increase the usage rate of blended materials replacing limestone in cement production. They also highlighted the necessity of introducing a carbon price differential contract system that guarantees carbon prices as contract prices for a certain period for facility investments and establishing a performance-based incentive system, such as expanding charging facilities for electric and hydrogen vehicles.

The government decided to incorporate the collected opinions from this meeting into the carbon neutrality industrial transformation vision and strategy to be announced next month. Kim Nok-young, Director of the Sustainable Management Center at KCCI, said, "Facing the new challenge of carbon neutrality, leading domestic companies are announcing large-scale investments one after another, but many difficulties are being raised on the ground. We will act as a bridge to convey the industry's requests to the government during the implementation process to ensure smooth investment by companies."

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