Kim Dongyeon Holds Climate Policy Town Hall in Siheung: "Gyeonggi's Climate Policy Will Set Korea's Standard"

Dongyeon Kim, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, held the 'Climate Policy Town Hall Meeting with Residents' at the Siheung City Workers' Welfare Center on the 16th. He defined Gyeonggi Province's climate policy with three key concepts: implementation, participation, and setting the national standard, and expressed his commitment to continued action.

Governor Kim stated, "Over the past four years, Gyeonggi Province has taken the lead in climate policy both domestically and internationally, and our commitment is sincere." He added, "Our philosophy and determination for climate policy in Gyeonggi Province can be summarized in three ways: 'Gyeonggi Province takes action' (implementation), 'Gyeonggi Province works together with our residents' (participation), and 'What Gyeonggi Province does will become the national standard for Korea' (standard)."

First, regarding 'implementation,' Governor Kim explained, "During the 8th popularly elected administration, we produced about 1.7GW (gigawatts) of renewable energy—an amount equivalent to three thermal power plants or two nuclear power plants. In order to address the climate gap, Gyeonggi Province was the first in Korea to introduce climate insurance, enrolling 14.23 million residents, and tens of thousands have already benefited." The climate gap refers to the widening inequality between social classes and regions in terms of vulnerability, damage, and response capacity to climate change.

Next, regarding 'participation,' he said, "Many people are participating in the 'Climate Action Opportunity Income,' a program that awards points for climate-friendly actions, and we are also running the 'Gyeonggi RE100 Income Village,' where residents earn income by generating renewable energy. In addition, today's event, the Carbon Neutrality Promotion Group, and the Climate Residents' Assembly are all examples of participation."

On the topic of 'standard,' he said, "Among the policies implemented during the 8th administration in Gyeonggi Province, several have been adopted for nationwide expansion by the national government. For example, the Gyeonggi RE100 Village will be expanded as the Solar Income Village, and the climate insurance program is also set for nationwide rollout. Moving forward, Gyeonggi Province will continue to take action first, together with our residents, and lead national policy initiatives."

The event was organized to assess the current state and explore future directions of Gyeonggi Province's climate policy through firsthand accounts from policy beneficiaries.

Participants at the town hall included members of the Carbon Neutrality Promotion Group, participants in the Climate Action Opportunity Income program, the head of the Climate Insurance Consultation Call Center, the village chief of Sodongsan Village in Anseong (an RE100 Income Village), and representatives from climate tech startups—key players in Gyeonggi Province's climate policies.

The participants shared real-life beneficiary cases, highlighting the positive changes that climate policies have brought to their everyday lives.

The event also featured an inaugural ceremony for the 'Climate Action Campus Leaders,' a new driving force for climate crisis response. The campus leaders, consisting of 100 university students from within the province, will participate in promoting Gyeonggi Province's core climate policy, the Climate Action Opportunity Income program, from March to December.

Kim Dongyeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is speaking at the "Climate Policy Townhall Meeting with Residents" held in Siheung on the 16th. Provided by Gyeonggi Province

These campus leaders will use their youthful perspectives to spread a culture of carbon neutrality in everyday life and serve as communication channels to widely publicize the benefits of the Climate Action Opportunity Income program through social media and other platforms.

After the town hall meeting, key participants moved to the Siwha Embankment to attend the opening ceremony of the 'Gyeonggi Sunshine Bicycle Road No. 1,' continuing their on-site activities.

The Gyeonggi Sunshine Bicycle Road is a Gyeonggi-style renewable energy and bicycle infrastructure project that installs solar panels over bicycle paths to provide shade while generating electricity. Construction began in November last year, and with its completion ceremony held on this day, the Gyeonggi Sunshine Bicycle Road now covers an 0.8km section of the Siwha Embankment bike path in Siheung City.

The 761.6kW (kilowatt) solar facility, installed above unused land along the bike path, was built entirely with private capital (from SK E&S SPC) without any provincial budget, serving as a Gyeonggi-style climate economy win-win model.

After the opening ceremony, participants took part in a 'riding performance,' cycling directly beneath the solar panels installed above the bike path.

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