This month Lee Jae-hoon, vice minister of Knowledge Economy, was able to answer a few questions from the Korea IT Times about Korea's role in climate change and Green Energy policies. The vice minister spoke about Korea's increasing role in the global energy conservation field and its cooperation with energy changes made by the US administration.
Q: How will our cooperation with the US proceed in 2009
A: The primary energy policy of the Obama administration is, first, to improve energy efficiency through strengthening energy demand management; second, to create a green energy market and expand employment; and third, to foster policies to cut down on greenhouse gases emissions.
First, president-elect Barack Obama said that the country's addiction to oil is one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced, which requires the US to change its economic health as a whole. It means that he will strongly carry out an energy demand management policy. In addition, he will aggressively establish energy efficient targets and pursue other measurestechnology innovation, stricter regulations and offering incentives-to achieve goals. Our government will pursue information exchange to increase energy efficiency in buildings and home appliances through various international cooperation channels.
Second, the Obama administration will facilitate the green energy industry by job creation and energy security in the US. In particular, Mr. Obama expressed that he will create "5 million green collar" jobs through investing in new energy technologies including wind, photovoltaic and hybrid cars and annually provide 1 billion dollars for small and medium sized enterprises to produce green products. Our government actively implemented its "Green Energy Development Strategy," which was published in September last year, sharply increasing support for 9 key technology developments including wind, photovoltaics and CCS. And we will move forward on joint research with developed countries like the US, securing key technologies ahead of other nations.
Lastly, the Obama administration, different from the Bush administration in energy policy, intends to strongly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change. As a result, the US will actively participate in international efforts to combat climate change. Especially, it will continue to use the Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change and the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. Consequently, we will also participate in international conferences led by the U.S. to serve as a bridge to link developed countries with developing nations by striving to do our very best in contribution and participation.
Q: What is our policy for combating climate change in 2009
A: The Government will soon implement the Comprehensive Plan on Combating Climate Change, set up last year. In particular, we have to put more effort than before towards establishing a systematic and legal basis for tackling climate change in 2009, when a post-Kyoto protocol deal will finally be reached.
First and foremost, to control energy consumption, we will push to improve energy efficiency in all sectors, enhancing energy efficiency by 46% in 2030 based on energy intensity. To this end, we will expand financial and tax incentives on investing energy facilities and promote energy efficiency in industries by revising laws to introduce negotiated agreements. In addition, we will improve the fuel efficiency of automobiles, encourage people to buy hybrid cars, and expand the Energy Efficiency Labeling Program which covers all buildings.
We will also decrease the fossil fuel density to 61% from the current 83% while increasing the renewable energy proportion to 11% by 2030. To do that, from this year we will revise laws for introducing Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). To make the green energy industry a national growth engine, we will vigorously support planning and adopting the Green Energy Strategic Roadmap in March this year.
Also through social coordination, the government will announce the national target for greenhouse gas emissions cuts based on the result of the study on the potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In line with these moves, we will set up a task force team for each industry and a help desk for voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction by industry.
In addition, to make businesses cut greenhouse gases emissions cost effectively, we will make efforts to boost the domestic carbon market by extending the contracts of Korean Certified Emission Reductions (KCERs). By complying with the same standards, we will connect the domestic and overseas carbon market, nurturing Northeast Asia as the carbon hub of the world.
In order to encourage people to voluntarily cut back on greenhouse gases emissions we will expand a Carbon Cashbag system into a service in which more people use energy efficient products in their daily life and consistently promote a carbon neutral program.
Q: What is our plan for climate change negotiation in 2009
A: The year 2009 will be a time when many more international discussions about climate change will go on than ever before. First of all, the 15th Conference of the Parties will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009, when the post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations will expire. In short, since we have less than 1 year left to discuss the issues of the post- Kyoto Protocol between developing and developed countries, high-level meetings of both the UN and the Major Economies Meeting are expected to be held regularly in 2009. First, as I mentioned earlier, in December 2009 the final post-Kyoto negotiations will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. There will 4 rounds of working-level talks before it, and climate change will be the main topic at the G8 Outreach session, which will be held Rome, Italy in July, coming up with a summit statement.
Korea has been heavily dependent on energy-consuming industries such as steel, petrochemistry and automobiles, and especially the energy efficiency of some sectors like steel has entered an advanced nation's level. Accordingly, we will review our economic conditions to respond to international negotiations in 2009.
