The KABC Second Chance Korea Business Forum

Cop 26 and Korea’s Green Deal reconsidered

8.00am – 9.30am, Monday 10 January 2022 at the Online Seminar Room

Dear member,

For anyone who missed our December session and wants to catch a shorter repeat version, a second chance version will be presented on January 10th at 8am. 

The second chance will look briefly at the economy at the end of December/start of the new year.    Our main session on January 20th will talk exclusively about the future of 2022 and the achievements of 2021.

Our session in December noted that the general consensus is that COP-26 made progress, but not enough in a number of directions, and that much rests on COP-27 to be held next year in Egypt. The announcement of a methane reduction led the US and China was welcomed, but some big methane producers notably Russia did not commit. Major holdouts on the early phasing out of coal included India and Australia. Korea advanced its goals with a better NDC, though not on coal.

Chatham House concluded that governments urgently need to do more because if you add up all the world’s NDC’s the climate rises 2.4 degrees, and not the target 1.5 degrees. The Council on Foreign Relations said that COP was a success but barely.

We may take a slightly more pessimistic view as the aim of COP was to cut GHG by 45% by 2030 which experts say is essential to level off at 1.5 degrees and was not really met. The winter power shortages in China and the high price of oil while COP-26 was on highlighted many of the issues related to actually providing enough renewable power to those who need it. Korea has its own serious problems in this direction until or unless hydrogen becomes the universal answer.

Korea’s average temperature is rising 60% faster than the global average. Does this mean that if the world stops at 1.5 degrees warmer, Korea stops at 2.4 degrees warmer and what does that mean? Seas around Korea are rising in temperature at almost double global averages.

The last two days of COP were taken by financial institutions and reports at the time indicated a huge switch to ESG and Green funding where estimates of the total amount more or less matched the estimates of the cost of converting to a green climate policy. China and Korea seem to have agreed to fund no new coal mines overseas. However, none of this suggested that adequate funds would be given to developing countries to help them adapt.

Join us on January 10th to discuss COP-26 and on January 20th for our first session of 2022 to assess where Korea is going in 2022 and to discuss what happens next.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Michell
Managing Director, KABC Ltd.