GGGWeek 2021 – Other themes

Accelerating progress on Korea's NetZero 2050 target

– Date/Time: October 26, 2021, 15:00 – 16:30 KST (GMT+9)

– Session lead:

  • Hee Kyung Son, Lead, Communications, GGGI

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently clearly states that the 1.5- degrees threshold will likely be reached before 2040, and the result of this will have a huge impact on climate change. Many countries, including vulnerable communities, will experience extreme weather events, sea level rises, fires, heatwaves, and droughts.

Governments, businesses, civil society, the private sector are stepping up efforts to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions. For example, the Republic of Korea is committed to achieve a net- zero target by 2050. The Korean National Assembly has passed a bill, outlining the country’s goal to cut down emissions in 2030 by 35 percent, making Korea the 14th in the world to legislate carbon neutrality act. The Korean government must ratchet up climate change efforts and motivate the private and civil society groups to join the goal of meeting net-zero emissions by 2050. Does the country need to collaborate closely with non-state actors that have now become increasing powerful in support the three pillars of the Paris Agreement: mitigation, adaptation, and finance?

Also, young people are leading climate action around the world. They are key actors in raising awareness, promoting sustainable lifestyles, conserving nature, and adopting environmentally friendly practices. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and young people have set the precedent for how we as individuals need to act if we are to save the planet.

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Climate Change Center (CCC), the co-Secretariat for the Campaign for Blue Skies and Net Zero 2050 in the Republic of Korea, held a virtual event on the sidelines of the Global Green Growth Week 2021 to understand the global trend of net zero commitments, discuss steps and actions that need to be taken by local industries and non- state actors and learn from countries like the UK and the US that have committed to ambitious NDC targets.

Agenda Speakers Bio Session PPTs*

* The PPTs are available until 8th January 2022. If you wish to access the PPTs after the date, please contact us at GGGWeek2021@gggi.org.

Key resources: 

– Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea

  • Blue Skies & Netzero 2050 Campaign (link)
  • Press Release on Korean New Deal 2.0 (link)

– POSCO

  •  POSCO Corporate Citizenship Report 2020 – Economic, Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance (link)

– Shinhan Group:

  • Sustainable Development Goals Financing Framework (link)

– Climate Interactive:

  • C-ROADS Climate Change Policy Simulator (link)