Brussels, 04/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Republic of South Korea will be establishing a carbon market trading scheme from 1 January 2015 under a law adopted by that country on Thursday 3 May to the great satisfaction of the EU and of European NGOs. Even greater satisfaction is due to the fact that the law in question makes it possible for the future South Korean carbon market to be linked to other similar systems, such as that of the EU, of Australia and of New Zealand, with a view to a global carbon market that is able to contribute to the global effort required if climate change is to be contained.
South Korea, the world's 8th largest CO2 emitter, has undertaken to reduce its emissions by 30% by 2020 compared to the level that such emissions would reach if nothing were done. Using legislative means, it plans to achieve this by fixing the price of carbon applying to the 450 largest polluters of the country. This initiative will make south Korea the third country of the Asia-Pacific region and the first country in Asia to have adopted such legislation.
Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, hailed this announcement, welcoming “South Korea, the world's twelfth largest economy, into the growing ETS family”. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) also welcomes the news from a country which is Europe's 11th largest export market. The WWF reiterated its request that the European Commission should “put its own house in order” when it comes to the ETS.
In a WWF press release, Jason Anderson, Head of European Climate and Energy Policy at the WWF European Policy Office, states: “What is particularly impressive about this move by South Korea is that it was done with cross-party support, in the face of stiff opposition from big polluting industries. (…) Meanwhile, the EU ETS is struggling with an oversupply of credits undermining its relevance. It is high time for the European Commission to propose an immediate and meaningful recalibration of the EU ETS to eliminate the 'toxic tonnes' that are poisoning the health of the system and stifling innovation.”
The forthcoming South Korean ETS is part of a much larger “green growth agenda” being pursued by the South Korean government, which has seen almost €65 billion allocated in initiatives driving investment in clean technologies, the environmental defence NGO points out. (AN/transl.jl)