2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy of the Republic of Korea towards a Sustainable and Green Society.

This 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy of the Republic of Korea, as a Long-term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies (LEDS), is formulated to participate in the efforts of the international community to address climate change under the Paris Agreement.
Korea’s 2050 Vision is established as follows: The Republic of Korea moves towards the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The Korean New Deal will serve as a stepping stone to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Korea will harness green innovations and advanced digital technologies to create synergies between the Green New Deal and the Digital New Deal, the two pillars of the Korean New Deal. Korea will also take decisive action especially in supporting and investing in the development of innovative climate technologies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Tackling climate change requires global efforts and collective engagement. Korea will lead by example to help the international community jointly make efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Strategy outlines the five key elements that will guide Korea’s policymaking, social transformation and technological innovations for its green transition: 1 Expanding the use of clean power and hydrogen across all sectors; 2 Improving energy efficiency to a significant level; 3 Commercial deployment of carbon removal and other future technologies; 4 Scaling up the circular economy to improve industrial sustainability; 5 Enhancing carbon sinks. The Government will develop an accurate power demand and supply forecasting system and provide enhanced support for future innovative technologies, e.g., Energy Storage System (ESS) for reliable power supply, and hydrogen fuel cells for auxiliary power sources. The Government and the industry sector will work together to scale up investment in applying new future technologies and developing technological innovations for the low-carbon transition of existing industrial processes. The waste sector’s strategy seeks to identify ways to convert wastes into useful materials and reuse them as energy sources. Any unrecycled wastes left should be disposed of in an eco-friendly manner. The agriculture, livestock farming and fisheries sector (farming sector) contributed 3.4% (including emissions from using energy) to the total GHG emissions in Korea in 2017. The Government plans to scale up the deployment of smart technologies on farms. To reduce GHG emissions originating from crop cultivation and livestock farming, it is essential to develop and deploy low-carbon farming practices and replace fossil fuels used on farms with clean energy sources. Innovative forest management is a key to improving the aging forest structure, promoting the use of wood products/timber and increasing carbon stocks. The Government plans to increase carbon sinks by creating urban green spaces for recreational use, restoring degraded forestlands and tree-planting in underutilized lands.