The United Nations designated June 5 as the World Environment Day to commemorate the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment which was held in Sweden in 1972 under the topic of One Earth. The Conference on the Human Environment is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates the worldwide awareness of the environment, enhances political attention, and motivates actions.
The agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes toward environmental issues; and advocate partnerships which will ensure that all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
The current topic on the environment that has been gaining much public interest these days is none other than climate change. This is because the people have not only been experiencing changes in the weather and the ecological system but people's interest in the environment has continuously been growing around the world.
At the World Economic Forum held in Davos this year, climate change emerged as the core theme of the conference.
According to a survey of 500 CEOs who participated in the forum, 38 percent of the respondents thought that the environmental change expected from climate change to be the main factor that would have the most profound effects on corporate management in the 21st century. For instance, the EU's new chemical regulatory system, REACH, which stands for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals, went into force early this year and the environmental issues in the negotiation processes of FTAs are discussed with great importance.
Above all, the government forecasts that the public's interest in the environmental policies aimed at raising the people's quality of life will grow further to reflect the changes in their interests and needs.
The task of expanding green spaces in urban areas and the shaping of a pleasant living environment will continue to see their importance grow. Similarly, integrated environment management that centers on public health is important. This includes measures to protect the environmental health of children, nursing mothers, the elderly and others who are vulnerable to environmental pollution and the measures to safeguard the health of unpro- tected regions. With respect to such aspects as the utilization of the natural environment or the supply of clean water and the processing of wastes and sewage, the demands for high-quality environmental services will increasingly grow.
There are a number of international organizations concerned with environmental issues. These include the specialized agencies of the United Nations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Social and Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), related finance support bodies such as the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and international cooperation organizations such as the OECD.
In order to properly respond to the needs for protecting the earth's environment and cope with environmental issues in Northeast Asia, Korea maintains active and cooperative relations with these international bodies and plans to further strengthen the cooperative ties in the future too.
To begin with, Korea takes part in the UNEP as a member of its executive committee that provides policy guidelines on the environment at the United Nations level and drives international cooperation.
Korea has further strengthened its environmental cooperation with the world community by successfully hosting the 8th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council and the Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Jeju in March 2003. Moreover, the Korean government is set to actively support the UNEP that intends to carry out 16 trial projects to improve the environment in North Korea.
The UNEP disclosed its intention to pursue the projects following the report on North Korea's state of the environment jointly issued by the UNEP, the UNDP, and North Korea in August 2004.
In 2005, the Seoul Initiative on Green Growth was adopted at the fifth UNESCAP Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development. Since then, follow-up projects such as policy forums and environmental training programs have been operated every year.
With respect to the World Bank, a capital financing and technology support agency for the advancement of developing countries, we have been involved since 2002 in the Knowledge Partnership that transmits our experience of advanced environment policy to developing countries such as China and Vietnam.
In addition, the government contributes about 1.5 million dollars every year to the GEF to assist its investment in the fields of environment and technology development in developing countries. Moreover, we plan to increase the contribution money gradually.
As an OECD member, Korea actively takes part in the environment related activities of the OECD, which plays a leading role in environment related initiatives through the information sharing among member states, policy development, and the evaluation of member states with regard to their performance in protecting the environment.
Korea has been participating and contributing in the discussions on policy issues of various committees of the OECD, and has been selected this year to vice chair the Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) of the OECD. While Korea has been dispatching experts in the evaluation of the environment performances of OECD member states on one hand, it has also received environmental performance evaluation this year following last year's. In 2006, the OECD gave Korea the high mark of a striking progress for its achievement made in improving the environment.
In the meantime, Korea has been hosting operational meetings and expert workshops of the OECD and seized them as opportunities to develop Korea's environmental policies and institutions.
Apart from these, Korea has prepared a cooperative master plan in 2005 to prevent the sand dust emanating from China with China, Japan, Mongolia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
At this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, a total of 23 major global risks were presented. The forum made a forecast that it anticipates such environmental risks as tropical storms, earthquakes, and floods along with water shortage due to unforeseen phenomena of the nature.
What this signifies is that the environment is an important element that determines the fate of a society and economy. In case any nation fails to manage environmental risks properly, however, it will incur enormous social and economic losses, whereas proper forecasts and preparations will bring opportunities.
When we look at the recent trends of the world, such as those concerning climate change and the EU's new chemicals regulations, the intensity of regulations has steadily grown to be more stringent for not only the earth's environment but also for the regional and domestic environment.
If we do not tackle this issue without fully taking notice of such trends, the development of a country or an enterprise becomes a far-fetched idea.
In the event that one fails to wisely cope with environmental risks and international regulations on the environment, it may lose not only competitiveness but also another opportunity to grow. Globally renowned corporations such as General Electric, IBM and Sony are reinforcing environmental management and investments, saying that the environment is the growth engine of the future. As Korea is no exception to this trend, large corporations including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Company and SK, are turning their eyes to environmental projects after declaring to follow environmental management.
In conclusion, we must actively deal with environmental issues by realizing that the environment is not only a core element in raising the competitiveness of a country or a company but a question of our survival.
