[Consumer Climate Action Column] Is the Time You Think Is Late Actually Early?

Eunjeong Lee, Visiting Researcher at iCOOP Cooperative Research Institute

On December 10, 2020, the Government of the Republic of Korea declared the ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality Vision.’

‘Carbon neutrality’ refers to reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels and other sources, and offsetting or removing the inevitably emitted greenhouse gases through forests, wetlands, etc., so that the net emissions become ‘0.’

Accordingly, changes are occurring in various fields, with the transition to a ‘plastic-free’ society being a representative example.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters will serialize the ‘Consumer Climate Action Column’ to empathize with and participate in the plastic-free movement.

The climate crisis issue only began to attract public attention in South Korea a few years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged rain lasting over 50 days in 2020 had a significant impact.

However, many research findings show that people’s perceptions of climate change are highly variable. Individual awareness of climate change is greatly influenced by the media, and when media interpretations change, the perceived importance of the issue can diminish or shift.

In fact, a survey conducted in the UK showed that the percentage of respondents who were ‘very concerned’ about climate change decreased from 81% in 2006 to 76% in 2009. Since individual awareness of climate issues strongly influences practical actions, policy acceptance, and corporate changes, its importance is even greater in the current urgent climate crisis situation.

Last year, the iCOOP Cooperative Research Institute, together with the consumer environmental movement group Consumer Climate Action (Sogihang), conducted a study titled ‘Research on the Awareness and Practical Actions of Sogihang Members Regarding Climate Change’ to spread the importance of individual awareness and action on the climate crisis.

Since there have been almost no domestic studies where participants directly recorded and analyzed the effects of daily practices such as meals, disposable product usage, various waste emissions, and energy consumption including electricity, water, and gas, this study was meaningful in many respects.

A total of 119 participants took part in a preliminary survey on climate change awareness and recorded their meals, disposable plastic usage, food waste, volume-based waste, recyclable waste emissions, and energy consumption (electricity, water, gas) for one week.

One notable result was the awareness of climate change among Sogihang members. Unlike the general public who are heavily influenced by TV, portals, and media, more than half of Sogihang members obtained information about climate change through cooperative activities and campaigns by the cooperative and Sogihang.

In fact, Sogihang participants showed lower levels of plastic use, waste emissions, and dietary carbon emissions compared to the Korean average, which is presumed to be due to their self-directed participation and activities that fostered greater interest and awareness of climate issues, leading to more active personal actions.

Looking in detail, their diet emitted 16% less carbon compared to the sample diet in the Ministry of Environment report (Yang Seung-ryong et al., 2010), and most frequently consumed foods were vegetarian menus.

Regarding disposable plastics, compared to Greenpeace’s 2019 report, they used significantly less bottled water at 16.7%, cafe cups at 61.5%, and plastic bags at 36% of the average figures.

Volume-based waste was 43.8% of the daily per capita emission, and recyclable waste was 74% of the average, indicating an overall environmental consciousness in consumption.

The results also showed that Sogihang members were active not only in advocacy activities for policy changes but also in practical actions in their personal lives.

In the first half of last year, Sogihang conducted a campaign on food expiration date labeling to reduce the enormous carbon emissions caused by food waste, and actual food waste from Sogihang members was only 41% of the Korean average daily emission, less than half.

Based on these survey results, the estimated carbon emission reduction if Sogihang members’ practical actions spread to the general public was calculated. The carbon reduction from diet, waste emissions, and energy use by Sogihang members was 375.5 kgCO2eq annually. If 1% of the total population practiced the same, it would reduce 193,946 tCO2eq, and if 10% of the population did so, it would reduce 1.94 MtCO2eq.

This corresponds to 6.7% of the 29.1 MtCO2eq that must be reduced annually to meet the 2030 NDC target of 436.6 MtCO2eq26). Like the saying ‘many a little makes a mickle,’ this result shows how important each individual’s actions are.

There is a common saying that ‘the time you think is late is actually early.’ However, regarding climate issues, this saying is very dangerous. When you think it is late, it is truly late.

Everyone must listen to the urgent SOS signals sent by the Earth. Therefore, the significance of Sogihang’s campaign activities for policy formulation and the daily practices of Sogihang members becomes even greater. We hope that Consumer Climate Action’s vegetarian campaign and No Plastic campaign activities will spread and that practical actions to reduce carbon emissions in daily life will expand.

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