South Korea’s Liberal Party won a landslide victory in the country’s April 2020 general election, having made significant climate pledges in its campaign manifesto. In the weeks building up to its return to power, the party promised to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050 as part of its Green New Deal, which also included a commitment to discontinue the state financing of coal projects and to introduce a ‘carbon tax’ on companies.
The development is significant because it means that South Korea is the first country in East Asia whose ruling party has officially made a pledge to combat the climate crisis (the winning Liberal Party already being the incumbent party before the election).
“[The Green New Deal] is essential to tackle the most urgent environmental disaster humanity faces – the climate crisis. South Korea is one of the top seven CO2-emitting countries in the world. The ruling party finally recognises its responsibility to not only tackle the climate urgency but also boost the domestic economy while battling this crisis,” said Jinsun Lee, a campaigner with Greenpeace Seoul, before the election.
South Korea will now invest in green energy infrastructure while phasing out coal-fired power plants, as well as imposing a tax on companies to encourage them to be more sustainable, although Greenpeace – which has been lobbying the nation’s main political parties on the matter – has highlighted that a phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles will also be necessary for the country to become truly carbon-neutral.
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South Korea’s Liberal Party won a landslide victory in the country’s April 2020 general election, having made significant climate pledges in its campaign manifesto. In the weeks building up to its return to power, the party promised to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050 as part of its Green New Deal, which also included a commitment to discontinue the state financing of coal projects and to introduce a ‘carbon tax’ on companies.
The development is significant because it means that South Korea is the first country in East Asia whose ruling party has officially made a pledge to combat the climate crisis (the winning Liberal Party already being the incumbent party before the election).
“[The Green New Deal] is essential to tackle the most urgent environmental disaster humanity faces – the climate crisis. South Korea is one of the top seven CO2-emitting countries in the world. The ruling party finally recognises its responsibility to not only tackle the climate urgency but also boost the domestic economy while battling this crisis,” said Jinsun Lee, a campaigner with Greenpeace Seoul, before the election.
South Korea will now invest in green energy infrastructure while phasing out coal-fired power plants, as well as imposing a tax on companies to encourage them to be more sustainable, although Greenpeace – which has been lobbying the nation’s main political parties on the matter – has highlighted that a phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles will also be necessary for the country to become truly carbon-neutral.