Industry and Finance Sectors to Form 'Carbon Neutrality Council' Next Year

Tannokwi, 'Carbon Neutral Grand Alliance' Declaration Ceremony
Annual Carbon Emissions Measurement and Disclosure Agreed

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is speaking at the 3rd plenary meeting of the 2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 30th. 2024.10.30 Yonhap News

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the industrial and financial sectors have agreed to form a consultative body to discuss cooperation measures.

The 2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee (Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Acting President, and Co-Chair Han Hwa-jin) announced on the 23rd that it held a declaration ceremony for the "Carbon Neutral Grand Alliance" at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul, containing this content.

At the event, six government ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Financial Services Commission attended. From the industrial sector, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Steel Association, Chemical Industry Association, Petroleum Association, Cement Association, Semiconductor Association, and Display Association participated, while from the financial sector, the Korea Federation of Banks, Korea Financial Investment Association, Life Insurance Association, General Insurance Association, and Korea Venture Capital Association attended as representatives of their industries.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo emphasized the importance of solidarity and efforts between the industrial and financial sectors for carbon neutrality by 2050, stating, "Placing climate and environmental changes at the center of capital investment is the shortcut to enhancing the future value of companies and advancing carbon neutrality."

Co-Chair Han Hwa-jin urged cooperation between the industrial and financial sectors, saying, "For the realization of carbon neutrality, close cooperation and concrete implementation plans between industry and finance are important, which will lead to sustainable green growth and strengthened global competitiveness."

The declaration contains the meaning of promising the public close cooperation and active efforts among major economic actors to achieve the 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

The government, industry, and financial sectors pledged to actively share and address difficulties arising during the carbon neutrality implementation process by operating consultative bodies and exchanging information, contributing to the sustainable development of the national economy.

Specifically, the government will present a clear roadmap and establish a policy foundation for achieving carbon neutrality, promote collaboration among industry, finance, and science and technology; the industrial sector will set and manage mid- to long-term carbon emission reduction targets, measure and disclose annual carbon emissions, and actively expand energy efficiency improvements, use of zero-carbon energy, and adoption of eco-friendly technologies. The financial sector will also actively work to expand investments in carbon reduction projects and zero-carbon energy based on feasible transition plans, including setting and implementing reduction targets and measuring and disclosing financial emissions.

At the subsequent conference, presentations were made on sector-specific measures for realizing carbon neutrality in industry, finance, science and technology, and supply chains, covering topics such as ▲carbon neutrality innovation and technology development and future challenges ▲sustainable finance strategies to promote carbon neutrality ▲proposals for accelerating carbon neutrality based on science and technology ▲and competitive carbon-neutral transition plans for Korean steel.

The 2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee announced that, based on this event, it plans to strengthen organic collaboration between industry and finance and regularly operate related consultative bodies (working groups) from 2025 to further enhance cooperation between industry and finance.

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