Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Kim Sungwhan on Nov. 17 speaks at the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aka COP30, in Belem, Brazil. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Seon Ah

Korea is just the second Asian country after Singapore to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), which seeks to phase out power generation using the fossil fuel.

Korea plans to shut down 40 coal-fired power plants by 2040.

A government delegation on Nov. 17 in Belem, Brazil, announced the nation's official entry into the PPCA at a joint news conference with the alliance at the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aka COP30.

The PPCA is an international coalition launched in 2017 at COP23 in Bonn, Germany, with the objective of ending power generation through the use of coal. Members span 62 countries including the U.S. and U.K. as well as local governments and corporations.

Bahrain joined Korea as the newest members of the alliance at this meeting.

Korea, which ranks seventh worldwide in coal-fired power plant capacity, also announced at the meeting that following its entry in the PPCA, it will stop building such facilities that lack devices to reduce greenhouse gases.

Seoul plans to shut down 40 of 61 such plants operating in the country. The fates of the remaining 21 will be decided after public consultations and based on economic and environmental considerations.

Specific management and shutdown plans will come next year.

sofiakim218@korea.kr