The Ministry of Environment (Minister Kim Wansup) announced that Minister Kim Wansup plans to engage in diplomatic activities to strengthen international cooperation on climate and environment through a series of meetings with senior officials of international organizations in Paris, France, from March 3 to 5. 

Minister Kim plans to meet with heads of international organizations on topics such as carbon trade barriers and plastic pollution (OECD), water and nature (UNESCO), energy (International Energy Agency*, IEA), and eco-friendly vehicles (International Transport Forum, ITF).

* Including the management and forecasting of greenhouse gas emission statistics, the IEA provides an outlook on the global energy market along with analysis of current issues and policy recommendations by energy source and sector.

In particular, during this visit to international organizations, discussions will focus on responses and collaboration in the climate and environmental sector due to the rapid changes in international circumstances following the inauguration of the new U.S. administration, as well as cooperation plans for the successful hosting of the ‘2025 World Environment Day’ (June 5, Jeju) event organized by South Korea and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

First, Minister Kim is expected to emphasize during his meeting with Mathias Cormann, the Secretary-General of the OECD, that discussions on carbon intensity, which the OECD is promoting as part of climate trade rules (post-CBAM), should view carbon intensity not as a trade barrier, but rather as a means to facilitate the green transition, such as creating markets for low-carbon products. 

In addition, he plans to request cooperation to ensure that the ‘World Environment Day’ event, hosted in South Korea for the first time in 27 years, becomes a truly global event.

In particular, discussions will focus on related tasks to ensure that the launching ceremony of the OECD’s ASEAN+3 Plastics Outlook*, which takes place around World Environment Day, aligns with the announcement of the World Environment Day Action Declarations and contributes to mobilizing international efforts to “Beat Plastic Pollution.” 

* This research, conducted as a follow-up to the 2022 OECD Plastics Outlook, contains the current status, outlook, and management efforts of plastics in the ASEAN+3 (Korea, China, Japan) region and is currently in the final draft stage.  

In the meeting with Lidia Arthur Brito, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, discussions will include: 1) consultation on the designation of Global Geoparks (East Coast of Gyeongbuk, Danyang), 2) strengthening cooperation in light of the 50th anniversary of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) (June 11-13, 2025, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris), 3) sharing of South Korea’s AI flood forecasting cases, and 4) joint cooperative projects in connection with the opening ceremony of the Global Research and Training Center for Internationally Designated Areas by UNESCO (Jeju, April 2025). 

Meanwhile, through this visit, while specifying the cooperative tasks discussed with the OECD and UNESCO, plans are also underway to establish new avenues for collaboration through bilateral meetings with Kim Young-tae, Secretary-General of the ITF, and Fatih Birol, Secretary-General of the IEA, with whom there has been no direct exchange previously. 

First, discussions with the ITF will focus on issues related to subsidies for eco-friendly vehicles and ways to overcome the temporary demand stagnation (chasm phenomenon) for electric vehicles, and it is planned to propose the establishment of a policy council to promote the distribution of zero-emission vehicles.

In addition, discussions with the IEA will focus on barriers to expanding low-carbon energy and strategies to overcome them, and it is planned to propose the establishment of a research council with the Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Research Center of Korea regarding greenhouse gas emission forecasts.

Minister Kim Wansup stated, “We aim to strengthen our cooperation with the OECD and UNESCO, which we have maintained a collaborative relationship with, and establish new collaboration channels with the International Energy Agency and the International Transport Forum. Through these efforts, South Korea’s environmental diplomacy capabilities will reach a new level in the international community.”