Editorial: Hollow Climate Summit, South Korea's Reckless Acceleration

The 30th UN Climate Change Conference held in Brazil concluded with a hollow agreement lacking an action roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels. Amid the absence or silence of the United States and China—the top two carbon emitters—and strong opposition from oil-producing nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia, the adoption of the roadmap was blocked. Major international media outlets assessed, “The agreement contained almost no provisions on how to address global warming.”

In contrast, South Korea submitted an unrealistic ‘Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)’ target at the conference, pledging to reduce carbon emissions by up to 61% compared to 2018 levels by 2035. The government also announced its intention to join the ‘Coal Phase-Out Alliance,’ publicly committing to completely halt coal power generation by 2040. In a climate conference that failed to reach any meaningful conclusions, South Korea alone appears to have imposed two self-restraining measures.

Cooperating with the international community to address climate change is necessary as its impacts become increasingly tangible. However, every action has an appropriate level. China, India, and the United States—accounting for 75% of global coal usage—have ignored the Coal Phase-Out Alliance, and even Japan, which is more coal-dependent than South Korea, has postponed joining it, citing “energy security and flexibility.” Yet, the government joined without forming a national consensus. The unrealistically high carbon reduction target cannot be lowered due to the Paris Agreement’s ‘no backsliding’ clause. What is the purpose of this reckless acceleration? Is being praised as an ‘environmental model student’ more important than national industrial competitiveness?

Moreover, the government is applying absurd ideological standards to nuclear power—a critical energy source—amid an AI revolution that will exponentially increase electricity demand. Meanwhile, it only emphasizes expanding renewable energy like solar and wind power, which remain expensive and plagued by unstable production. Raising greenhouse gas reduction targets and accelerating the coal phase-out timeline will inevitably burden businesses beyond their capacity and sharply increase electricity rates. The future of a nation shackled by ‘environmental Taliban’ is worrying.