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Greenpeace members in front of the main gate of the Parliament building in Yeouido, Seoul, on World Climate Action Day in September, holding placards with photos of President Moon Jae-in, the Democratic Party Lee Nak-yeon, the Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki and the Kim Jong-in People’s Power Emergency Response Committee. We urge zero emissions. Yunhap news
“By 2030, we will cut the carbon emissions emitted by public institutions in half.”
The Ministry of the Environment announced on the 8th that it is a 20-day administrative notice of the revised draft ‘Guidelines on GHG management and energy objectives in the public sector.
“We will reduce 37.5% compared to 2017 and 50% compared to standard emissions”
This amendment contains the content of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the public sector by 37.5% compared to 2017 in 2030. The reason why the reduction standard is’ 2017 emissions’ is that the ‘ ‘Basic Law of Low Carbon, Green Growth’ is based on the emissions of 2017. The Ministry of Environment said: “It is a level of reduction of 50% compared to the standard emissions in 2030, and the remaining 50% will be reduced until 2050 “.
The institutions included in GHG emissions in the public sector are 782 institutions that include central administrative agencies, local governments and the Office of Education. As of 2019, the GHGs they emit were 3.98 million tons and 0.56% of the national GHG emissions (7.8 million tons).
Although the proportion is not large, it is the first ‘target number’ presented after the declaration of ‘carbon neutrality in 2050’, while the national greenhouse gas reduction target has not yet been revised. As it is a roadmap for reduction in the public sector, it can become a model for a scenario for reducing government carbon emissions in the future. An official from the Ministry of the Environment explained: “We are making a preventive attempt in the ideal direction to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”
The road to ‘2050 zero carbon’. Graphic = Reporter Park Kyung-min [email protected]
The standard value of the rubber band that cannot be stopped increasing … “The absolute quantity standard is difficult”
White water vapor rises from the Yeosu National Industrial Complex in Yeosu city, Jeollanam-do, where petrochemical companies are concentrated. Yunhap news
The Ministry of the Environment presents a ‘reduction of XX%’ as a target emission value, indicating the ‘absolute emission value’, but mixing the 2017 emission and the ‘standard emission’.
In 2017, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions were 79.1 million tons, the second largest in history. ‘Standard emissions’ are an arbitrary adjusted value reflecting the current state of new institutions based on average emissions of 5,200,000 tons from 2007 to 2009. As buildings continue to be constructed, standard emissions are likely to increase. . In fact, in 2019, the baseline jumped to 5.21 million tons.
It means that the ‘reduction target’ was set based on the second highest period in history or the number that continues to increase. In this regard, Cho Cheon-ho, former head of the National Institute of Meteorology, said: “At the IPCC General Meeting held in Incheon in 2018, there is an international standard that limits ‘each country’s emissions for 2030 to 45% of 2017’ . It sounds like you are playing with words to make a ‘50% ‘number in a sector that is less than 1% of emissions.
The Environment Ministry considers absolute emissions internally when discussing carbon emission targets, but does not believe that the ‘absolute value’ standard is appropriate as a standard presented on site. An official from the Ministry of Environment said: “There are 780 institutions, but there are tens of thousands of buildings, so it is practically difficult to apply the absolute standard.” We are working with other organizations to reduce the increase as much as possible. ”
How much in absolute amounts?
The absolute value of public sector emissions for 2030, established by the Ministry of the Environment, is approximately 2.6 million tons. Although it is less than 50% of the amount of emissions in 2019, the emissions target in 2030 is at least 5.2 million tons, so it can be written as ‘50% of the emissions target. Emissions in 2017 were 4.07 million tons, 4.40 million tons in 2018 and 3.98 million tons in 2019. Based on 3.98 million tons, a reduction is expected equal to reducing 1.38 million tons during the next 10 years and 2.6 million tonnes for 20 years to 2050.
An official from the Ministry of the Environment said: “The public sector originally set the reduction target higher than that of the private sector, and since the reduction of GHG emissions in the public sector is reflected in the budget, we expect each agency to work actively. ”
Reporter Kim Jeongyeon [email protected]
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