[The Hwankyung Ilbo] Academics, civic groups, and youth representatives pointed out the seriousness of the problem, including "increasing climate disasters, rapid transition is necessary," "The sincerity of the carbon neutrality declaration should not be questioned," and "Let's at least meet the international community."

This is advice to policy authorities who are considering the 2030 NDC (National Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal in 2030) to submit before the UN General Assembly on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, England in November.

The Energy Conversion Forum held an international webinar aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the President Hotel in Seoul on the 20th. Officials from domestic research institutions, non-profit organizations and major foreign countries, excluding the government, attended online.

First, overseas cases of responding to the climate crisis were introduced. In addition to EU-level voices from Germany, the U.K., the U.S., Japan and Canada, the outlook for international organizations was also presented. 

"By 2030, policy support and investment should be concentrated," said Brian Motherway, director of the Energy Efficiency Bureau of the International Energy Agency. "The solar and wind markets are expected to grow four times and electric vehicles 18 times over the next 10 years."

"At least this much is needed to achieve the desired carbon neutrality in 2050," he said. 

Ten years to the future: 

Simon Petrie, director of the International Climate Strategy Bureau at the British Department of Business and Energy Industry, said, "We have reached an agreement through efforts by all departments with a sense of responsibility that if our NDC is set low, other countries will also be loose." This is the background of the establishment of the British NDC, which was completed in December last year.

The UK, the chair country of COP26 to be held in November, plans to lead global carbon neutrality based on this opportunity.

Director Petrie said, "We have used the core of the General Assembly as a "mitigation" to avoid environmental impacts, and we will find the driving force behind the implementation of the Paris climate agreement." 

The German government is in a more aggressive situation. Diana Nissler, an official at the German Ministry of Environment, said, "We started designing new routes after the Constitutional Court, increased the number of NDCs by 65% in June this year compared to 1990, and advanced the plan to be carbon neutral by 2045, not 2050."

Germany has continued to be more aggressive since the Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that "the legal standards for climate issues are ambiguous, so it is passing on the responsibility of greenhouse gas emissions to future generations."

In addition, "Fit for 55," a step-by-step implementation plan of the EU that raised the 2030 NDC to 55%, pushed to revitalize the carbon price system in Canada, and news of a partnership with the U.S. in February this year were shared.

Joe Biden's U.S. government has also reaffirmed that new legislative efforts are being made to revitalize climate technology investment, making climate crisis response a top priority after the coronavirus pandemic.

In particular, Kentaro Tamura, director of the Climate Energy Bureau at the Japan Institute for Global Environmental Strategy, said at the climate summit in April this year that Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga would raise the 2030 NDC to 46 percent from 2013. 

The international community is raising its target:  

"While the energy target was established first and the climate change target was set in the framework, the situation has changed now," Tamura said. "A strategic energy plan will come out soon based on the climate change goal." 

The domestic situation was highlighted in a series of discussions. There were mixed voices of concern about the government establishing the 2030 NDC.

Lee Chang-hoon, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Environmental Policy and Evaluation (KEI), said, "With most other countries raising the NDC to more than 40%, and Germany is far above 50%, we should set at least 40 percent."

He advised, "Real conditions should be considered in this process, and the inevitable increase in electricity prices due to the replacement of fuel with renewable energy should be politically acceptable."

Ahn Byung-ok, a professor of Convergence Science and Technology at Hoseo University, also said, "The 2030 NDC should be within the same range in terms of carbon neutrality and reduction path."

"Carbon neutrality is definitely a challenging goal to change both its production method and product structure," said Chung Eun-mi, head of the Korea Institute for Industries, who emits the most greenhouse gas in Korea. "It means that everything needs to be changed over the next 30 years."

In addition, he/she said, "While companies are changing their processes and production, there are challenges that need to be drawn to create a market within them." 

Lee Sung-ho, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Energy Technology, said, "If there has been a strong stance to "within the scope of our conditions," it is time to change our attitude to set goals and come up with detailed plans in consideration of the minimum that the international community will tolerate."

There was also a problem that the electricity market is not fair and transparent. Due to its structure, which is inevitably influential by a specific organization (Korea Electric Power Corporation), it is an obstacle to raising NDC and expanding and distributing renewable energy. 

Inflexible power system reliability: 

"While renewable energy has diverse owners, gas generation is managed by state-run companies, and when renewable energy generation increases, Korea Electric Power Corporation is in a dilemma that it cannot treat public-run gas power plants." said Kim Joo-jin, CEO of Climate Solution.

He said that it is difficult for KEPCO, which is influential in establishing technical standards or market rules in the power sector, to eventually affect its plant operating rate in the consciousness of financial damage.

Above all, he stressed that if there is an opinion that hesitates to supply renewable energy because of the "power system communication reliability," a measure of supply stability, it should be reconsidered.

"Behind the claim that raising the NDC affects the systematic reliability, someone should know that they are not doing their best not to make the system flexible," Kim pointed out.

He stressed that renewable energy will be introduced dynamically only when such conflicts of interest, which lead to fairness and transparency in the power market, are resolved. 

In addition, Kang Eun-bin, co-chairman of the Youth Climate Emergency Action, spoke on behalf of future generations.

Representative Kang stressed that he is here as a party facing the problem, a facilitator to promote radical and constructive response to climate crisis, and a watchdog to monitor businesses and governments.

"It's time for a drastic transition, and the longer we postpone it, the more time and cost we will not be able to handle," he said. "The intensity of the climate disaster increases, and it's too harsh to take on the task of reducing it."

He also raised the need to focus on what he can do right now, breaking away from optimism that technology is enough, citing examples of "no sales measures for internal combustion engines" and "call for an end to coal power generation."

Amid unsolved questions ahead of the government's announcement of the 2030 NDC, the Presidential Carbon Neutral Committee, which was launched in May, also expressed its position.

Yoon Soon-jin, chairman of the 2050 Carbon Neutral Committee, said, "Natural disasters caused by the climate crisis such as frequent abnormal weather phenomena and coronavirus are no longer new news. "For the sustainable survival of current and future generations, the nation, businesses, and civil society are all required to actively take preemptive action here."