[Promotion of Renewable Energy in Japan and Korea]

Q1. What do you think of the current status of the renewable energy (renewable energy) industry in Korea and Japan and the future renewable energy policies?

As you know, at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris, France in December last year, the world agreed on the seriousness of climate change and signed the Paris Agreement aimed at curbing global temperatures to at least 2℃ based on pre-industrial temperatures during this century. Therefore, countries around the world have released the 2030 Commitment Draft (INDC) to reduce greenhouse gases, but Korea and Japan promise to reduce emissions by around 20 percent based on 2010 and have no significant compared to other developed countries.
However, it is difficult to say that Korea and Japan account for nearly 80 percent of electricity plans by 2030, and that renewable energy is only 20 percent in Japan and 15 percent in Korea. It is difficult to say that a power source capable of sustainable coexistence with human life, safety, and ecosystems is possible. Currently, the EU aims to supply 45 percent of electricity to renewable energy by 2030, while the U.S. state of California aims to increase the supply rate to 50 percent by 2030. In other words, "to supply more than 40 percent of electricity to renewable energy by 2030" is the standard goal of developed countries.
Both Korea and Japan are advanced countries and are responsible for contributing to the international community in terms of environment and coexistence.

Therefore, it is time to gather wisdom on the goals of supplying renewable energy necessary to build a sustainable, low-carbon society and what energy policies are needed to achieve them. In particular, it is very meaningful for outstanding experts from Korea and Japan to gather in Jeju Island (Jeju Island), where the government is actively promoting renewable energy supply by revealing "zero carbon islands" at home and abroad by 2030 and is seriously discussing the supply of renewable energy.

Since Korea and Japan are 95% dependent on foreign energy, improving energy self-sufficiency is becoming a very important national task. Since 2012, both Korea and Japan have made changes to the renewable energy supply system, and the supply of renewable energy has progressed. However, both countries are centered on large-scale solar power generation, and renewable energy other than solar power and small-scale regional-friendly renewable energy are still not very popular.

In addition to the environmental value (CO2 reduction) of renewable energy, we intend to find ways to achieve success in small-scale renewable energy generation projects focusing on local values, such as revitalizing the local economy, as a business model. In particular, the characteristics of the Jeju symposium are that the central government, policy researchers from local governments, and Korean and Japanese experts working on the supply of renewable energy from citizens and businesses gather together to compare and analyze the achievements and tasks of each system transition, and to point out ways to revitalize the supply of renewable energy that is closely related to the region. Renewable energy contributes to climate change by curbing carbon dioxide emissions, and is also effective in revitalizing employment and the economy in the region, as well as contributing to human peace by preventing resource wars. In this sense, we are very pleased that the Korea-Japan expert symposium will be held on Jeju Island, the island of peace, with the support of the Jeju Peace Research Institute, the Toyota Foundation in Japan, and the Academic Promotion Association of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Q2. Through the 'Green Big Bang,' Jeju announced its vision of a 'zero carbon island' that aims to provide 100 percent electricity from renewable energy sources and 100 percent electric vehicles by 2030. What should Jeju's role as a provincial government to expand the spread of new and renewable energy from the perspective of experts?

As the vision of a zero-carbon island is a very meaningful goal of Jeju City to appeal to the world the role of the spearhead of the world to stop climate change, we are making every effort to achieve it. However, since there are only 15 years left until 2030, I don't think it will be easy to achieve the goal of a zero-carbon island during this period. Above all, it is important to have firm leadership and unwavering policy implementation by the policy makers centered on the provincial governor.

As an environmental economist, I would like to give you one advice: In order to achieve the zero-carbon island goal, we are once again aware that emitting carbon dioxide to the residents of Jeju is expensive (damage from climate change) and that it is worthwhile to supply renewable energy. To do so, I also think it is necessary to introduce a carbon tax based on carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, the promotion of a zero-carbon island requires considerable financial resources for the related infrastructure. I don't think it is easy to finance it from existing finances. Since the carbon tax must contain tax revenue, I think it is the most appropriate way to achieve these two tasks at the same time: financing the maintenance of carbon-zero infrastructure by suppressing carbon dioxide emissions from the residents.

However, even if local governments want to introduce a carbon tax, they need permission from the central government in Korea, but I think this will be a high obstacle. In the case of Japan, a local environmental tax has been activated in which local governments can introduce their own taxes for local environmental measures. For example, various types of local environmental taxes are active for environmental conservation in the region, such as the "Forest Environment Tax" for protecting water resources and the "Industrial Waste Tax" for controlling the emission of industrial waste and promoting recycling. In the case of Jeju City, we really want to introduce a carbon tax through the revision of the local tax system so that carbon taxes can be implemented in special districts.

* Prof. LEE Soocheol pointed out that several global moves to combat climate change-such as the 2015 Paris Agreement-many of which address reliance on fossil fuels. But South Korea and Japan have several challenges in their own futures of renewable energy. Prof. LEE noted that that power composition in both countries are expected to be mainly composed of fossil energy and nuclear plants in 2030, which means that there is still insufficient awareness of the effects of renewable energy expansion and the externalities of power sources. Korea and Japan ‘s dependence on foreign energy sources has risen to 95 %, so strengthening energy independence is an issue that must be added the national agendas of both countries.

Jeju Island has set its path towards realizing its carbon-free island goal. Prof. LEE added that, from an environmental economics perspective, there are two things that are critical to making Jeju province a carbon-free island. One is to elevate the relative value and use of renewable energy, and the second is to provide support to finance relevant infrastructure. Prof. Lee strongly recommended introducing a carbon pricing system as one way to address these issues.

* Interviewed on August 25, 2016 (The Jeju Symposium for Promoting Renewable Energy in Japan and Korea )
Posted on November 25, 2016