South Korea's 2050 Carbon Neutrality Policy

On 28 October 2020, President Moon Jae-in declared Korea's 2050 carbon neutrality strategy as a comprehensive transformation plan towards a sustainable and green Korean economy. The key elements for the 2050 carbon neutrality are: expanding the use of clean power and hydrogen across all sectors; improving energy efficiency to a significant level; commercial development of carbon removal and other future technologies; scaling up the circular economy to improve industrial sustainability; and enhancing carbon sinks. The success of the 2050 net-zero depends on whether the energy sector can be decarbonised on schedule. More fundamentally, the strength of carbon pricing to secure private climate finance will determine the future of Korea's vision to go carbon neutral by 2050.