Ministry of Industry Launches Full-Scale 'Overseas Greenhouse Gas Reduction' Initiative... Consultations with 6 Southeast Asian Countries Underway

Discussion on Carbon Credit Transfer to Achieve NDC
‘Carbon Neutral Support Center’ Established in Vietnam... To Expand to 11 Centers in the Future

South Korea has begun formal discussions on overseas greenhouse gas reduction with Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 18th that from the 18th to the 19th, it held the "Global Net Zero Connection in Asia" event in Hanoi, Vietnam, and initiated bilateral consultations with six Southeast Asian countries?Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Laos, and Cambodia?regarding the transfer of overseas greenhouse gas reduction achievements. The purpose is to transfer carbon credits generated from projects carried out by companies abroad back to South Korea.

Overseas greenhouse gas reduction refers to the government supporting projects by Korean companies overseas that can reduce carbon emissions, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and low-carbon facility investments, and then reclaiming the resulting reduction achievements to use toward meeting the national greenhouse gas reduction target (NDC). This is an international cooperation activity under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, with the key being to accelerate overseas reductions through private sector participation. Since February, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has been promoting pilot projects for overseas greenhouse gas reduction to achieve 37.5 million tons of overseas reduction as part of the 2030 NDC target.

The event was the first international event on overseas greenhouse gas reduction hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). In addition to about 40 Korean companies, government agencies and around 40 companies from the six Southeast Asian countries participated. The event included sharing national greenhouse gas reduction policies, one-on-one consultations between companies on thermal and electric energy and renewable energy, and bilateral government meetings.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will open the first "Carbon Neutral Support Center" at the KOTRA Hanoi Trade Center. It will provide full-cycle support for international greenhouse gas reduction projects in both private and public sectors and plans to gradually expand to 11 centers at major global hubs in the future.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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