Remarks

by H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
at the Closing Dinner
of the Global Green Growth Week

September 8, 2016

Director-General Yvo de Boer,
Distinguished Ministers and Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you all for joining us in the Global Green Growth Week 2016 (GGGW 2016), the first omnibus event hosted by the GGGI to discuss the future of global green growth. I am pleased to host this dinner to close off this meaningful event.

Jeju Island where we are today is an island which has been striving to transform itself into a zero-carbon island by 2030 and has thus gained global recognition as a model of green growth. No other place would, therefore, be better than Jeju as a venue for an event such as this one to discuss the future of green growth.

This week, we are gathered here to discuss how to cope with the new challenge of restructuring the global economy, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring that such reductions do not undermine the capacity for sustainable development and that the benefits of growth are shared by all stakeholders in a balanced manner.

The answer to this challenge is green growth that is inclusive and sustainable as it not only mitigates climate change and environmental degradation, but also creates new growth engines through clean energy and green technology. The time has come for the international community to share the commitment and mobilize resources to promote green growth around the globe.

According to the New Climate Economy Report released in 2014 by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, it is estimated that around 90 trillion US dollars need to be invested globally in infrastructure until 2030. In order to meet such large infrastructure needs while simultaneously implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, a priority should be given to securing sufficient green finance.

Green financing was also at the heart of our discussions today at the Global Green Growth Summit (GGGS) which agreed to come up with a Green Finance Action Agenda. The expansion of green financing through the Action Agenda will serve as a stepping stone for the international community to move towards a green economy.

As one of the countries that spearheaded the launching of the global green growth agenda, the Korean government established the Committee on Green Growth in 2009, in which both the public and private sectors are participating.

We have also mainstreamed green growth across all national policies by designing and implementing the Five-Year Plan for Green Growth. In addition, Korea created the institutional framework to achieve a green economy by enacting the Framework Act on Low Carbon Green Growth back in 2010.

Our response to the new challenge posed by climate change is a holistic approach that encompasses reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building a sustainable energy system, creating an ecosystem for green creative industries, and achieving a green society.

As we also believe green growth is a common goal that the international community needs to pursue together, we have been moving beyond our domestic efforts for green growth to build a global green partnership.

First, we have been striving to accelerate the global expansion of green growth agenda. To this end, full support has been provided to the GGGI and the GCF, both based in Korea.

Not only have we been actively engaging in all the GGGI activities as its biggest donor, we have also been playing our due part in raising climate finance. As you know, in 2015 we concluded an agreement with the GCF to contribute 100 million US dollars.

We are also developing a Korean-style climate change model. Last November, the GCF board approved support for the wetland conservation project in the Amazon rainforest in Peru that employs the Korean-style climate change model. In addition, the Green Technology Center-Korea(GTCK) has assisted the GGGI’s green building project in Mongolia since 2014.

Second, we have been providing support for the green growth of developing countries through our bilateral ODA. KOICA not only supports the efforts of developing countries to combat climate change, utilize renewable energy, engage in eco-friendly production activities, and set up urban planning for green cities, but also plays a facilitator’s role of directing private finance to building green growth infrastructure by improving their investment environment and reducing investment risk.

Let me share with you some of KOICA’s success stories: it helped build eco-friendly farms for Philippine minorities by sharing our experiences of rural development in mountainous areas; promote sustainable development of provincial cities in Vietnam by supporting the development of green city models; provide assistance to Nyaruguru, the poorest district in Rwanda, in preserving the environment while developing the rural area in a comprehensive manner; and supply water in the Bolivian highlands where water is in short supply by way of developing solar energy.

Going forward, Korea will continue to work closely with the international community at both bilateral and multilateral levels so that sustainable development and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved simultaneously through green growth.

I firmly believe that the Global Green Growth Week here in Jeju has added a new momentum to our joint efforts to build a global green partnership and I congratulate you for the success.

Tonight, I suppose, may be the last official social event for Mr. Yvo de Boer in his capacity as Director-General of the GGGI. So I cannot fail to take this opportunity to recognize his great contribution to enabling the GGGI to develop into a thriving international organization as it is today. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors and hope that the GGGI will continue to benefit from his sage advice in the coming years.

Let me now conclude my brief remarks by proposing a toast to the continued success of the GGGI and global expansion of green growth in the years to come. /END/