1,000 Green Startups to Be Fostered... Youth-Centered Entrepreneurship Support

The government plans to nurture 1,000 green startups and 10 prospective green unicorn companies by 2027. It also aims to establish new green convergence clusters linked to regional industries such as used batteries, semiconductors, and solar panels.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Environment announced the 'Global Top Climate Environment Green Industry Promotion Plan' at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting. First, a youth-centered 'Green Startup Lab' will be operated to encourage entrepreneurship even with just an idea. Support will be diversified, including the establishment of testbeds within green convergence clusters for companies to demonstrate their technologies and products. Through this, the goal is to foster 1,000 green startups and 10 prospective green unicorns with a corporate value exceeding 100 billion KRW by 2027.

Minister of Environment Han Hwa-jin is responding to questions from lawmakers at the Environment and Labor Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

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Financial loans and green policy finance support will also be expanded. 420 billion KRW will be invested in loans to foster future environmental industries, and a total of 1.1 trillion KRW will be supported to activate green policy finance. Additionally, support for issuing green asset securitization bonds will be expanded, including 7.68 billion KRW for bond issuance and 12.18 billion KRW for asset-backed securities issuance.

Guarantees will be provided to promising green technology companies facing difficulties in financial transactions due to collateral limitations. In collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, a green industry policy finance supply plan will be prepared by next year, and preferential processes such as expedited review and favorable interest rates or guarantee fees will be operated for excellent companies in cooperation with the Financial Services Commission by next year.

In cooperation with related ministries such as the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, green technology development to solve environmental problems will also be pursued. For example, research on carbon capture technology using 'seawater desalination concentrate' will be conducted from this year until 2028 to simultaneously secure resources and achieve carbon neutrality.

Plans have also been finalized to focus support on ten national strategic technologies, including secondary battery recycling enhancement technology, clean hydrogen production technology using bioplastics, and environmental health bio-data construction and utilization technology, to achieve early results and secure competitiveness.

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Furthermore, 10 green convergence clusters will be established by 2028. New green convergence clusters linked to regional industries such as used batteries, semiconductors, and solar panels will be created to accelerate the establishment of a resource circulation industrial ecosystem. Bases will be established for used batteries in Pohang, post-plastics in Busan, used semiconductors in Gumi, solar panel waste in Haenam, and biogas in Boryeong.

Efforts will also be made to create new markets for green industries. Solutions to environmental problems faced by various countries will be proposed to target overseas markets. For example, in Latin America, where most waste is still landfilled and recycling infrastructure is not established but landfill sites have reached their limits, the 'Korean-style resource circulation policy' will be branded to target the market.

A green export fund will also be newly established to increase the possibility of overseas business orders for Korean companies. Under the Overseas Construction Promotion Act, the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND), which has experience in overseas infrastructure investment projects, will establish a green industry export fund with 300 billion KRW from the government and 100 billion KRW from the private sector.

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