Government Discusses 'Global Climate, Energy, and Environmental Change Response' at New Trade Roundtable

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy recently held the 2nd "New Trade Round Table" on the 5th under the theme of "Global Climate, Energy, and Environmental Changes and Responses" to listen to the opinions of experts from academia and research institutions and to seek countermeasures regarding global trade issues such as the final announcement of France's electric vehicle subsidy reform plan.

At this meeting, trends in global green regulations centered on domestic policies, including the European Union (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the EU Ecodesign Regulation, were shared comprehensively. In particular, through in-depth discussions on key issues of the EU CBAM implementation law, which will take effect from October 1 this year, ways to alleviate difficulties faced by our industries were explored.

Im So-young, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, who presented on "Trends and Prospects of Global Green Regulations and Policies," introduced the main contents and progress of the European Green Deal, the Carbon Neutral Industry Act, and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, stating, "Global green regulations are expected to be strengthened, focusing on climate change, carbon neutrality, and the circular economy. It is necessary to actively discover and develop demand-side policy measures and strengthen the linkage between policies."

Kim Yoon-seung, a lawyer at the law firm Kwangjang, in his presentation on "Key Issues and Responses to the Implementation of the EU CBAM," mentioned that companies subject to the Emissions Trading Scheme (K ETS) may face increased burdens due to differences with the EU ETS, emphasizing, "Systematic and proactive responses are necessary to minimize damage to our industries."

Ahn Deok-geun, Director General of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "New trade issues represented by the global climate crisis are closely related to economic security and are technically specialized, so the insight of experts from various fields is urgently needed. Especially in a situation where uncertainty is increasing for exports and our economy, we plan to continuously gather expert opinions to strengthen trade capabilities and actively reflect them in trade policies, while proactively responding to global threats and actively utilizing opportunity factors."

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