The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced on October 6 that the Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) Initiative officially launched its global working group (“CFE Global Working Group”) on October 3. Moreover, Korea will be serving as chair of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) in 2025.
At the 15th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and the G20 Energy Ministerial held through October 1–4 in Brazil, the Korean delegation highlighted the need to harness various carbon-free energy sources. At CEM, it announced the official launch of the CFE Global Working Group and convened a kickoff meeting.
The CFE Global Working Group is a consultative body for discussions on CFE implementation standards and utilization measures with the participation of Korea, Japan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Czech Republic, and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Going forward, it is expected that the scope of participation will keep expanding.
At the CFE Global Working Group kickoff meeting, MOTIE Minister Dukgeun Ahn emphasized via a video message how Korea has been laying the groundwork for consensus building with various countries over the use of diverse carbon-free energy sources, sharing plans to continue discussions through the CFE Global Working Group. Head of the Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat Jean-François Gagné also expressed strong agreement to the need for utilizing all carbon-free energy sources, voicing support for the CFE Initiative’s role in the international community.
First proposed by Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September 2023, the CFE Initiative has thus far won the support of a total of 10 countries and international organizations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP28) resolution (December 2023) and the IEA 2024 Ministerial Meeting (February 2024) joint communique both reaffirm the need to utilize technology-neutral carbon-free energy sources.
In view of member countries’ support for Korea’s chairmanship of next year’s CEM, the international community’s shared understanding for the CFE initiative is anticipated to widen further in the future.