The Biggest Obstacle to Achieving Both Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Industrial Development: "Funding"

2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee and Seoul National University Climate Tech Center
Survey of 260 Experts Conducted

Prime Minister Kim Minseok is speaking at the 5th plenary meeting of the 2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee held at the Government Seoul Office Building on November 10, 2025. Photo by Yonhap News

Experts in South Korea identified "funding" as the greatest challenge in achieving both greenhouse gas reduction and industrial development. There were also strong calls for support for new research and development as well as demonstration facilities, and for financial input to foster early market creation.

The Secretariat of the 2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee and Seoul National University Climate Tech Center announced on December 9 the results of a survey on the carbon competitiveness of domestic industries, conducted from October 29 to November 21 among 260 domestic experts in climate, energy, industry, and environment.

According to the survey, respondents cited "the capacity to transition to low-carbon processes and production methods" (27%) and "energy transition, including the expansion of renewable energy" (26%) as the key indicators representing carbon competitiveness.

Although South Korea is making efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote industrial development, there is a perception that investment and institutional support to back these efforts remain insufficient.

When asked, "To what extent do you agree that South Korea is making multifaceted efforts to achieve both greenhouse gas reduction and industrial development?" 38% of respondents said they "agree," 34% answered "neutral," and 28% said they "disagree." Respondents generally assessed government financial input (56%), private investment (63%), and government policies and systems (51%) as insufficient.

Additionally, the areas where the government should actively intervene to achieve carbon neutrality were identified as "early development and demonstration of core technologies" (30%) and "stimulating demand and market activation for low-carbon products" (28%). In particular, to stimulate demand and market activation, respondents indicated that "production subsidies" (38%) and "mandatory usage requirements to a certain level" (24%) are more necessary than purchase subsidies.

Experts pointed to "funding" as the overall obstacle to achieving both reduction and growth. In particular, they recognized the need for funding across technology, industrial transition, and infrastructure, in light of insufficient government financial input and private investment.

By key sector, the main challenges were: "the heavy burden of facility investment" (30%) in supply chain decarbonization; "lack of government support for demonstration and commercialization of developed technologies" (25%) in industrial transition; "insufficient infrastructure to promote production and investment by companies" (28%) in infrastructure and workforce; and, in climate tech, "venture capital investors' reluctance to invest due to business risks" (27%), highlighting the direct need for financial support.

Beyond financial support, the top issues identified were "low carbon prices" (23%) in the financial sector, and "weak price competitiveness of low-carbon products" (25%) in the market sector.

As solutions to these challenges, experts called for a solid strengthening of the foundations in "technology," "market," and "finance."

In the technology sector, "establishment of new R&D and demonstration support facilities" (41%) and "modernization of research facility equipment" (27%) were cited as urgent. In the market sector, "increased financial input for early market creation" (40%) and "providing bold incentives for companies to reduce carbon emissions" (37%) were emphasized. In the financial sector, "enhancing the signaling effect of emission allowance prices" (23%) and "providing financial incentives to institutions offering green financial products" (19%) were considered pressing needs.

Other suggestions strongly raised the need for "policy consistency that is not swayed by changes in administration" and "integrated governance (a control tower) to streamline the currently fragmented decision-making system across multiple ministries." These reflect voices from the field that a predictable policy environment is essential for activating private investment.

Jung Sujong, Director of the Seoul National University Climate Tech Center, stated, "We hope the results of this survey will be directly utilized to strengthen the carbon competitiveness of domestic industries, and we plan to use them as foundational data for future research on climate tech and industrial transition in South Korea."

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