The ‘2050 Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth’ (Chairpersons Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Advisor of KAIST Kim Sang-hyup; hereinafter referred to as “Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Commission”) deliberated and resolved the ‘2022 Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Implementation Review Results’ during its 6th plenary meeting (written) in 2023.

This assessment focused on the performance of greenhouse gas reduction and the implementation of policies related to carbon neutrality and green growth in the year 2022.

* Establishment of the National Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Basic Plan (April 2023) - Prior to 2022, according to Article 6 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Carbon Neutrality Act, a review of the policy tasks of the Basic Plan for Climate Change Response was conducted.

Before the review, a monitoring system, including setting sector-specific performance indicators, was established to substantial greenhouse gas reduction efforts.

In particular, various stakeholders*, including youth and civil society organizations, directly participated in the review process, conducting assessments tailored to the perspective of climate crisis stakeholders.

* Five youth and future generations, five civil society organizations, and 10 representatives from labor, agriculture, industry, and science and technology sectors

Looking at the overall results of the 2022 Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Implementation Review Results,

The national total greenhouse gas emissions* (preliminary) amounted to 654.5 million tons, showing a 3.5% reduction compared to the previous year’s emissions (preliminary).

* Yearly trend (unit: million tons): (2018) 727 → (2019) 701.2 → (2020) 656.2 → (2021) 678.1 → (2022) 654.5

This is attributed to improvements in the energy mix of high-emission sectors (approximately 70%), and a decrease in production and demand in the industrial sector, according to analysis.

- Despite a 3% increase in power generation compared to the previous year due to increased electricity demand, a clear reduction in emissions from the transition sector (a 4.3% decrease compared to the previous year) was evident, thanks to the expansion of non-carbon sources such as nuclear and renewable energy and a decrease in coal power generation*.

* Changes in the share of power generation (2021 → 2022): (Nuclear) 27.4% → 29.6%, (Renewable) 7.5% → 8.9%, (Coal) 34.3% → 32.5%

- Furthermore, a decrease in production in greenhouse gas-intensive sectors such as steel and petrochemicals*, due to the global economic slowdown, had an impact on industrial sector emissions (a 6.2% decrease compared to the previous year).

* (Steel production) 2021: 70,419 → 2022: 65,846 thousand tons, (Petrochemical production) 2021: 34,377 → 2022: 32,697 thousand tons

However, there is a need to further strengthen greenhouse gas reduction efforts across all sectors to achieve the 2030 national greenhouse gas reduction target (NDC) (40% reduction in emissions compared to 2018).

- The reduction in emissions from the industrial sector has been driven more by external factors than low-carbon transitions. Therefore, efforts have been intensified to achieve reduction results through improvements in energy efficiency and the development of innovative technologies.

- There is an urgent need to improve the greenhouse gas emissions trading system, a crucial policy tool for emission control, in line with new conditions such as the NDC (April 2023) and international trends, according to opinions.

- In addition, expanding renewable energy, accelerating the adoption of eco-friendly vehicles, improving the energy efficiency of aging buildings, and rationalizing electricity tariffs for energy demand management were identified as major challenges.

The Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Commission plans to continuously monitor and manage the implementation progress of each government agency related to the National Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Basic Plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The results of this review will be actively incorporated into the establishment of the 2035 NDC* implementation roadmap, and plans are in place to continuously verify and address any necessary improvements.

* The 2035 NDC is scheduled to be submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat in 2025 after substantive discussions starting from 2024.

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