By Kim Hyelin and Lee Jihae

President Moon Jae-in's declaration to parliament on Oct. 28 of Korea going "carbon neutral by 2050" is attracting global attention.

Carbon neutrality or "net zero" refers to achieving net zero emissions of CO2 by balancing carbon emissions with removal or simply eliminating them altogether. 

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in an Oct. 28 statement, "The Secretary-General is very encouraged by President Moon Jae-in’s announcement of the Republic of Korea's commitment to get to net zero emissions by 2050."

"This is a very positive step in the right direction after Korea’s exemplary Green New Deal, which was announced in July," Dujarric added.

"With this announcement, the Republic of Korea, the world's 11th-largest economy and sixth-largest exporter, joins a growing group of major economies committed to lead by example in building a sustainable, carbon neutral and climate resilient world by 2050."

Bloomberg on Oct. 28 posted the story headlined "South Korea Beefs Up Climate Goal Amid Mounting Global Pressure," emphasizing President Moon's announcement.

Rebecca Mikula-Wright, executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, was quoted as saying President Moon's pledge will be "welcomed by investors who increasingly want to deploy private capital into markets that are reducing climate risk and enhancing opportunities for clean technology deployment."

The British daily Guardian on Oct. 28 ran the article titled "South Korea vows to go carbon neutral by 2050 to fight climate emergency," saying, "He (President Moon) vowed to end its (Korea's) dependence on coal and replace it with renewables as part of its Green New Deal, a multibillion-dollar plan to invest in green infrastructure, clean energy and electric vehicles."

Jude Lee of Greenpeace East Asia was quoted as saying the president's pledge was "another important step forward," adding, "We expect that this important pledge leads the Korean industry to swiftly shift from fossil fuels to a 100% renewables-based system." 

The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in the story headlined "Korea and China follow Japan in pledging net zero," said President Moon pledged to replace carbon development with renewable energy to create a new market, industry and jobs, something applauded by environmental activists.

Jiji Press of Japan, in the article headlined "German chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes Korea and Japan's goal of zero carbon emission," quoted the German leader's spokesperson as saying the chancellor "welcomes" Korea and Japan's "ambitious goals" of attaining net zero.

Financial Times of the U.K., Forbes of the U.S., and Japanese news agencies Kyodo News and The Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun) also covered as major news President Moon's declaration and Korea's planned response to the climate crisis.

This is the first time for Korea to announce carbon neutrality. Sixty-five countries in September last year declared carbon neutrality at the Climate Action Summit and 70 including the 65 did so this year. China recently announced its intent to achieve net zero by 2060 and Japan by 2050.

kimhyelin211@korea.kr