"The Ministry of Environment will concentrate its efforts to herald Korea's green growth policy to the participants of the G20 Summit, including foreign journalists," a top ministry official stated.
Noting that the Seoul government is actively pushing ahead with green growth policy, the Minister of Environment, Lee Man-eui said, "At the G20 Summit, which is to be held in Seoul from November 11th to the 12th, we plan to confirm our determination in pursuing green growth and methods for climate change management rather than merely conducting detailed discussions."
Minister Lee mentioned, "In relation to this, we will offer various materials to publicize Korea's excellent environment and green policies, including the 'Green Start Movement' and the 'Four Rivers Project' to foreign journalists who came to here to cover the G20 Business Summit and the G20 Summit meetings."
The 'Green Start Movement' refers to a nationwide campaign toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the non-industrial sector through the participation and actions of citizens. The movement was initiated in October 2008 with the foundation of the Green Start National Network.
The 'Four Rivers Project' will be carried out by 2012 with a budget of 22.2 trillion won. The project is aimed at improving four major rivers: the Han, Nakdong, Geum, and Yeongsan Rivers, throughout the country.
The master plan envisages preparing for climate change, bringing to fruition the harmonious existence of nature and the people, seeking out the balanced development of regions, laying the groundwork for green growth, and readjusting the land.
"In particular, we plan to include the demilitarized zone (DMZ) eco-tourism course into the press tour program as a representative case of Korea's green growth policy," said Lee.
Observing that safety is the most important matter for having a successful G20 Summit, Minister Lee discussed how the ministry set up a prevention scheme and countermeasure system to effectively handle possible chemical terror incidences and accidents, in close cooperation with relevant government agencies.
"For the nation's pleasant hosting of the G20 Summit and convenience for foreign guests, the ministry is also staging a campaign to encourage citizens to utilize public transportation as opposed to driving cars during the G20 period," the environmental minister said.
Korea's Future Environmental Vision
Stressing the necessity of coexistence of environment and economy in an era of climate change crisis, Minister Lee said, "The low carbon and green growth policy suggested by President Lee Myung-bak is an accurate method for achieving this vision."
Lee discussed how Korea has already secured global leadership as a leading green growth country and initiated the OECD's 2009 adoption of the Green Growth Declaration based on its experiences of driving environmental consciousness among the nation.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced in an earlier report on Korea's green growth policy their gracious praise of the nation's policy as a prime example for leading the green economy.
Commenting that Korea is classified as a developing country under the climate change agreement, Minister Lee said, "It is difficult for the nation to continue holding the status of developing country for the future considering that Korea ranked 10th in the world for output of greenhouse gas emissions in 2005, securing the 15th position in economic volume."
He then added, "Meanwhile, I think the global trend will not permit Korea to continue economic growth with the same carbon-intensive producing methods of the past. Accordingly, we need to pursue economic growth through new methods of low carbon emissions and green growth allowing us to enter the ranks of advanced environmental countries."
