▲ Governor Won Hee-ryong of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province

Governor Won Hee-ryong of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Governor Jay Inslee of Washington State, United States, proposed the need for a climate and green industry alliance beyond the military and security alliance between South Korea and the United States.

At the video press conference with the World Resources Institute (WRI) on May 20th, Governor Won suggested the direction of Korea’s policy for ending coal use and reducing greenhouse gases in his presentation.

The World Resources Institute is one of the biggest think tanks in the United States, providing analytic views on issues such as climate change, energy, forestry, food, and the ocean.

“Climate change is a serious crisis for us, but it can just as well be an economic opportunity,” said Governor Won. “Our responses to climate change in the form of green technologies such as renewable energy, energy storage system, smart grid, green hydrogen, and electric vehicles will develop as a new growth engine for the economy,” he suggested.

“Through Jeju’s Carbon-Free Island policy, we have decided to produce 100% of the province’s electricity consumption from renewable energy by 2030 and to convert to 100% eco-friendly vehicles by completely banning new registration of internal combustion locomotives from 2030,” he continued. “In line with this approach, I requested at the National Assembly last month that Korea’s coal power generation should be phased out by 2035 or 2040 at the latest,” Won emphasized.

▲ Governor Won Hee-ryong of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province

He also said, “If Korea reduces its greenhouse gas emissions at the same rate every year after the peak, it needs to reduce 37.5% of its 2017 emissions by 2030. To this end, by 2030, coal power generation should account for less than 10% of the total power generation, and renewable energy should exceed 40%.”

In particular, he added, “To achieve a coal-free policy, it is of utmost importance to improve the energy mix through the harmonization of renewable energy and future-oriented smart nuclear power plants (SMR). The Korea-US summit and the P4G summit are opportune moments for the Korean government to discuss the possibility of raising the greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030.”

Lastly, Won said, “Ahead of the Korea-US summit, I believe that the Republic of Korea and the United States can form an alliance on green technologies and industries such as batteries, smart grids, and smart nuclear power plants (SMR).” He proposed organizing a Youth Roundtable so that young leaders in their twenties and thirties from each country, who are the real victims of the climate crisis, can cooperate to realize the 2050 carbon-neutral policy.

The press conference was organized by the World Resources Institute (WRI) ahead of the Korea-US summit to discuss upcoming global affairs and opportunities to demonstrate Korea’s climate leadership.