Analysis: Jobs come first in S.Korea's ambitious "Green New Deal" climate plan

Doosan Enerbility Co

08/06/2020 08:47

By Josh Smith and Sangmi Cha
    SEOUL, June 8 (Reuters) - The first stages of a South Korean
government “Green New Deal” aiming to retool one of the world’s
most fossil fuel-reliant economies is focused instead on
protecting jobs as the country seeks to stimulate a
virus-ravaged economy, activists say.
    First proposed by President Moon Jae-in's ruling party ahead
of the April parliamentary election, the Green New Deal set
ambitious goals of net-zero emissions by 2050, an end to
financing of overseas coal plants, and the introduction of a
carbon tax.
    But activists say that government plans announced since then
do not directly address Moon's pledge to reach net-zero
emissions, or to end to coal financing.
    An initial parliamentary proposal calls for an investment of
12.9 trillion won ($10.5 billion) over the next two years, with
the focus on the creation of 133,000 jobs.
    The plan includes remodelling public buildings, creating
urban forests, recycling, establishing a foundation for new and
renewable energy, and creating low-carbon energy industrial
complexes to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. 
    Those proposals look "like a repackaging of already existing
plans and policies," Kim Joo-jin, managing director of Solutions
For Our Climate (SFOC), a Seoul-based non-profit organisation,
said in a statement.
    "There is quite a large gap between international praise of
Korea's Green New Deal and the reality on the ground," he said.
    Lee So-young, who was elected to parliament this year on a
platform of environmental reform, acknowledged the concerns but
said lawmakers are seeking to draft more detailed laws that will
not only not boost the economy after the coronavirus crisis, but
also transform the economy and society in more sustainable ways.
    The jobs-heavy proposals are a first, short-term phase
designed to help shore up the economy after the coronavirus
crisis, she told Reuters.
    "Green New Deal legislation is not simply a matter of
injecting funding in certain projects, but rather addressing
what kind of procedure, governance and regulations we will use
to remodel the entire society by 2050 to prevent climate
change," Lee said.
    
    DIFFICULT TRANSITIONS
    Lee vowed that in the long run, the New Green Deal won't
simply be old policies that have been "green washed."
    A more long-term plan will need to be drafted to regulate
and end financing for coal plants, impose phased carbon taxes,
increase "energy welfare" for people suffering from the effects
of climate change, and to reduce overall air pollution, she 
said.
    In 2017, the last year for which data was available, South
Korea was the 7th largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the
world, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
    Coal power is the bedrock of South Korea's electricity
supply, accounting for about 40% of the country's total energy
mix, with renewable power accounting for less than 6%.  
    With the economic woes that are being exacerbated by the
COVID-19 crisis, Moon's administration has continued to
subsidize and bail out companies like Doosan Heavy, which builds
power stations in South Korea and overseas.
    But the wide victory margins for Moon's party in the April
parliamentary election, and an appetite for progress on climate,
reinforces that view that voters in Asia’s developed economies
and regions now equate environmental performance with government
competence, said Melissa Brown, director of Asia Energy Policy
Studies at the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and
Financial Analysis.
    "Voters want their children to have clean air and water,"
she said. "They associate environmental problems with corruption
and lazy politicians."

 (Reporting by Josh Smith and Sangmi Cha, Additional reporting
by Jane Chung, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
 ((JoshSmith1@thomsonreuters.com;))