The Korean government has decided to join an international alliance that aims to phase out coal power. President Lee Jae-myung pledged during the last presidential election to shut down all domestic coal-fired power plants by 2040.
Minister Kim Seong-hwan of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment on this day (local time) announced Korea's entry into the "Powering Past Coal Alliance" at the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) in Brazil.
The Powering Past Coal Alliance is an organization that aims to phase out coal power, with more than 180 countries, local governments, corporations, and civil society groups around the world participating.
Alliance members share policies on phasing out coal power and cooperate in areas such as technical support. In Korea, eight local governments, including South Chungcheong Province and Gyeonggi Province, have already joined.
The climate ministry said, "In line with President Lee Jae-myung's policy to shut down coal-fired power plants by 2040, our government has also joined the coal phaseout alliance."
The Minister Kim, at a COP30 high-level meeting on this day, also announced a target to "cut national greenhouse gases by 53–61% by 2035 compared with 2018." Based on this, the government aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Kim also said, "Responding to the climate crisis is a global task and a task of a community of shared destiny that the global village must solve together," adding, "We will continue to work with the international community and actively participate in the global transition to decarbonization."