[FEATURED SESSION]
Industrial Decarbonization Perspectives from Europe and Korea
Co-hosted by Yonsei University & EU Jean Monnet Centre
Europe and Korea are implementing renewable energy and hydrogen policies to achieve
carbon neutrality by 2050 through the Green New Deal. The session consists of discussions
on governance and international cooperation directions for decarbonization in Europe and
Korea, and discussions on stakeholders in the areas of carbon neutrality, green hydrogen and
green energy transport.
Please refer to the information below if you are interested.
Yeonho Lee (Moderator)
- “We have narrowly escaped from the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time, but at the same time we are experiencing the war taking place in the other corner of Europe. This brought the energy price issue. On the one hand, we need to discuss the issue on decarbonization, but on the other, the voices of fossil fuel advocates are getting louder. We are at a very controversial junction on this matter.”
- “This is just another beginning to prevent another big disaster. We must make important efforts jointly.”
Philippe Li (Moderator)
- “Industrial decarbonization is the main issue and challenge for corporations as the industrial sector produces about a quarter of global GDP and employment but at the same time produces about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
Joseph Dellatte
- “You need to iron out the methodological incomparability between different regulations implemented in Korea and Europe for instance. That could be done through a Climate Forum, Climate Club or through a bilateral relation.”
- “Policy differentiation must be possible. That is completely unavoidable, but a conversion guideline is needed to ensure that the goods that are traded are still carbon neutral or that you know the carbon contents of the goods.”
- International cooperation is required to decarbonize the global industry, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. One suggestion is a Climate Club which involves countries implementing mutually agreed-upon measures with compliance mechanisms. Countries including Korea and the European Union can work together to achieve this goal.
- There is also the need to establish supply chains for carbon-neutral goods, promote green markets, and harmonize policies through a Climate Forum. Here, we can foster the discussion on rules for specific industrial sectors. Moreover, there is a strong need to develop lead markets for carbon-neutral products, where they are given an advantage over their carbon-intensive counterparts both domestically and globally.
Young Tae Kim
- “The notion of sustainability is evolving significantly according to the definition provided by the World Bank. Sustainability not only means the environmental aspect but also universal access, safety, efficiency and green. So today, when we talk about sustainability, it means everything.”
- “We need more implementation and concrete steps to achieve our goals. There are too many goals already set by the UN SDGs, European Commission, World Bank and so on. But now, it’s time to focus on more methodological issues and implementation tools.”
- “There must be a great turning point for all the transport community, to decarbonize our society in general not only to decarbonize the transport sector.”
- International Transport Forum(ITF) is an organization with 64 member countries from around the world, yet it is still mainly focused on Europe. ITF produces reports on mobility and transportation topics and organizes the largest gathering of ministers every year. ITF has five main teams dealing with decarbonization, connectivity, universal access and inclusion, safety, security and health, and digitalization.
- ITF is concerned with decarbonizing the transportation sector, and the ITF Transport outlook predicts an increase in CO2 emissions from the sector by 2050 due to increases in passenger and freight transport demands. To be able to reach the goals set in the Paris Agreement, ITF suggests incorporating the transport sector more ambitiously. Although many countries mentioned transport in their Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs), only a few are determined to reduce the CO2 targets in the mobility sector. That is, a holistic view must be maintained. Furthermore, collective efforts must be initiated such as the access to negotiation tables of transport ministers and stakeholders.
Philippe Berterottiere
- “In different parts of the world, decarbonization is progressing at a different page and it is a matter of concern.”
- A major issue in the maritime industry is that decarbonization is progressing at different rates in different parts of the world, which could endanger international trade and cooperation. The shipping industry has set ambitious targets for decarbonization, which will require existing ships to reduce their emissions, slowing down their speed and potentially creating tension in the industry between different countries.
- In order to meet the ambitious targets, set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), solutions are being developed to improve ship design, install carbon capture systems, and provide digital solutions for optimizing ship routing. Despite shipping only producing three percent of worldwide CO2 emissions while transporting 80 percent of goods, there is still a need to address the carbon issue on ships. It's important to maintain a balance between different players and countries and ensure that existing ship owners in less wealthy and powerful parts of the world can remain active as progress is made towards decarbonization.
Jeongwoo Lee
- “These regulations and decarbonization trend impacted a lot to highly manufactured countries, especially like Japan, China and South Korea.”
- “Small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling to gather resources, good talent and capital, so the Korean bank institutions are supporting them to adapt to these diverse regulations imposed by the U.S. and EU.
- The financial sector has impacted diverse industries and corporations, and many of the assets may be harshly impacted in 5 to 10 years due to ESG initiatives and difficulty responding to emission matters for small and medium-sized corporations. Kookmin Bank is working as an advisor to help shift businesses to decarbonized models. Given current circumstances, including high interest rates and inflation, banks are highly focused on ESG implementation and providing automatic ESG services to clients to shift towards decarbonized models.
- Globally, the financial institution's focus is on supporting the energy transition, particularly in the manufacturing industry of countries such as South Korea, Japan, China, and Germany. These countries have quickly adapted to new regulations, including the European CBAM. These regulations and decarbonization trends have impacted these countries, but they also present opportunities, such as the shift away from gasoline and diesel cars. The financial institution is helping small and medium-sized enterprises to comply with these regulations and shift to more sustainable practices.
Mickael Naouri
- “The first key thing that should be done per country is to give a very strong perspective on what is supposed to be the end game. This can bring confidence in the industry to invest and to make sure that their investment is still relevant in the coming decades.”
- “It is difficult to align in terms of policies, but there are a lot of things that we can align, such as standards. We can rely on certification, methodologies and cooperation. All of these are not critical to the differences of countries.”
- Air Liquide is a global industrial gas company that sells gases to a variety of industries. They are active in the energy transition and decarbonization efforts, with three main pillars: decarbonizing their own assets, supporting their customers in decarbonization efforts, and developing new energies such as biomethane or hydrogen.
- The difficulty in aligning countries and companies due to differences in the energy mix is a challenge, but standardization and cooperation can be a significant breakthrough. The transition to decarbonization is leading to changes in business models, with more partnerships and collaborations and, as a result, creates new opportunities for industries.
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[FEATURED SESSION]
Industrial Decarbonization Perspectives from Europe and Korea
Co-hosted by Yonsei University & EU Jean Monnet Centre