On October 28, in an address to the National Assembly, South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that South Korea will be carbon-neutral by 2050. The announcement comes just two days after Japan’s declaration of the same goal and just over a month following China’s promise to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 (Financial Times).

To achieve this new goal, South Korea has committed to a previously proposed “Green New Deal.” This plan, designed to help the country’s economy recover from the impacts brought by COVID-19, lays out a variety of ambitious activities, including ending investment in overseas coal power plants, making a mass shift to renewable energy sources, creating a carbon tax, remodeling public buildings, creating urban forests, increasing recycling rates, and setting up low-carbon industrial complexes (Reuters, Guardian). South Korea’s current energy mix relies heavily on coal, which supplies 40% of the country’s energy (Reuters). Only 6% of the country’s energy comes from renewable sources, the lowest proportion of any OECD country (Financial Times).

However, there are already indicators of positive change. Over the past month, major South Korean businesses, including the KB Financial Group, Samsung C&T, and Kepco, have announced their exits from thermal coal power projects both locally and abroad (Nikkei). While much work remains to be done, Korean environmentalists and the international community have expressed their confidence in the country’s commitment to energy transition (Guardian, Nikkei).