P4G Seoul Summit offers opportunity to find inclusive solutions
President Moon Jae-in will open a two-day virtual summit of global leaders Sunday to discuss how to fight climate change and ensure sustainable growth. More than 60 leaders of foreign countries and international organizations are scheduled to participate in the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Seoul Summit.
The summit is the second of its kind following the inaugural meeting held in 2018 in Copenhagen, Demark. It marks the first multilateral summit to be hosted by South Korea since President Moon took office in May 2017. Participants, including heads of states, corporate CEOs and civil society leaders, will engage in active discussions to find inclusive solutions to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. The summit will deal with five topics such as energy, food and agriculture, and circular economy.
It is meaningful that Korea, which has emerged rapidly as one of the G20 economies, to host the P4G summit. We hope that the country will take the event as an opportunity to take the lead in achieving carbon neutrality and promoting green growth.
The Seoul Summit comes amid the spread of COVID-19 which has prompted many countries, including Korea, to push for Green New Deal programs to overcome the public health crisis. Under the theme of “Inclusive Green Recovery Towards Carbon Neutrality,” the summit will hopefully provide momentum for public-private partnerships in tackling challenges arising from climate change and sustainable development.
Notably, the Seoul Summit will serve as a stepping stone to the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) which is to be held in Glasgow, the U.K., on Nov. 1-12. It will also set the pace for the next decade of climate action. At the end of the summit, participants will adopt the Seoul Declaration which stresses the need for solidarity and cooperation of the international community in coping with climate change.
The Seoul Summit should mark a turning point in South Korea’s response to climate change. The country was once called a “climate villain” because it failed to make tangible progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Paris Agreement, Korea presented a plan to reduce carbon emissions by 24.4 percent by 2030 from 2017 levels. But the reduction plan appears to be insufficient to reach the agreement’s goal of limiting the rise of global temperature within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
President Moon has also committed to realize carbon neutrality by 2050. However, there is growing skepticism over the commitment because the Moon administration has yet to come up with concrete and detailed measures to achieve that goal. The country needs to take bolder action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if it really wants to be a leader in the fight against climate change. The Seoul Summit will be a litmus test for Korea’s efforts for green growth and sustainable development.
President Moon Jae-in will open a two-day virtual summit of global leaders Sunday to discuss how to fight climate change and ensure sustainable growth. More than 60 leaders of foreign countries and international organizations are scheduled to participate in the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Seoul Summit.
The summit is the second of its kind following the inaugural meeting held in 2018 in Copenhagen, Demark. It marks the first multilateral summit to be hosted by South Korea since President Moon took office in May 2017. Participants, including heads of states, corporate CEOs and civil society leaders, will engage in active discussions to find inclusive solutions to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. The summit will deal with five topics such as energy, food and agriculture, and circular economy.
It is meaningful that Korea, which has emerged rapidly as one of the G20 economies, to host the P4G summit. We hope that the country will take the event as an opportunity to take the lead in achieving carbon neutrality and promoting green growth.
The Seoul Summit comes amid the spread of COVID-19 which has prompted many countries, including Korea, to push for Green New Deal programs to overcome the public health crisis. Under the theme of “Inclusive Green Recovery Towards Carbon Neutrality,” the summit will hopefully provide momentum for public-private partnerships in tackling challenges arising from climate change and sustainable development.
Notably, the Seoul Summit will serve as a stepping stone to the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) which is to be held in Glasgow, the U.K., on Nov. 1-12. It will also set the pace for the next decade of climate action. At the end of the summit, participants will adopt the Seoul Declaration which stresses the need for solidarity and cooperation of the international community in coping with climate change.
The Seoul Summit should mark a turning point in South Korea’s response to climate change. The country was once called a “climate villain” because it failed to make tangible progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Paris Agreement, Korea presented a plan to reduce carbon emissions by 24.4 percent by 2030 from 2017 levels. But the reduction plan appears to be insufficient to reach the agreement’s goal of limiting the rise of global temperature within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
President Moon has also committed to realize carbon neutrality by 2050. However, there is growing skepticism over the commitment because the Moon administration has yet to come up with concrete and detailed measures to achieve that goal. The country needs to take bolder action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if it really wants to be a leader in the fight against climate change. The Seoul Summit will be a litmus test for Korea’s efforts for green growth and sustainable development.
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