Seoul's 'Green Growth' Strategy

Gearing up for a paradigm shift
Goh Sui Noi, Straits Times 28 Jul 09;

FOR South Koreans, separating their rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable waste - with the former further separated into glass, paper, plastics, metal and so on - is second nature.

It was not always like this. Koreans kicked up a fuss when the government introduced volume-based garbage disposal back in 1995. They had to separate their rubbish if they wanted to cut cost, as recyclable waste is collected free of charge.

It took the Koreans a while to get round to the idea of recycling. 'It is natural people want convenience. Changing a mindset is never easy. However, as time went by, we saw the virtues of recycling and accepted it,' housewife Park Gyeong Sook told this newspaper in an interview two years ago.

But the government is now asking them to go through another mindset change. For recycling is an end-of-pipe solution to environmental problems and climate change, treating waste after it is generated. The government is looking to shift emphasis to front-of-pipe solutions that would lead to achievement of ecologically sustainable growth.

It wants a paradigm shift from the old economic growth model that emphasises quantity - but has a negative impact on the environment - to one that focuses on quality, or what President Lee Myung Bak dubs 'low carbon, green growth'. It means developing new drivers of economic growth through innovation and leveraging on technologies that South Korea already possesses.

These new growth drivers will be green technology, including the areas of renewable energy, clean energy, water treatment, transport and energy-saving devices; technology convergence, including broadcasting and communication, IT systems, new materials and nano science, and high-value-added food industry; and high value-added services such as health care, education, tourism and finance.

Meanwhile, traditional industries are encouraged to reduce their carbon footprint through more efficient use of energy and cleaner production methods. Help is given in the form of research and development subsidies and partnerships with government research institutes.

Socially, the green growth strategy is aimed at changing lifestyles and behaviour to build a low-carbon society. So Koreans are encouraged to switch to hybrid cars or public transport or even the bicycle and to make their homes green.

The government this month unveiled plans to invest US$84 billion (S$121 billion) over the next five years on green growth projects, which include the development of green technologies. A key project is the cleaning up of four major rivers and turning parts of them into reservoirs to address a growing water shortage problem. There is also a plan to build a 3,300km network of bicycle paths linking major cities and rivers. Ultimately, the aim is to make South Korea - the 13th largest economy in the world and its 10th largest emitter of carbon dioxide - a global role model of green growth.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung Soo at a meeting with foreign visiting journalists last month said that the country would announce at year-end a target for carbon emission reduction in 2020. It already has an aspirational target of halving emissions by 2050.

The government is working towards legislation that will introduce a compulsory cap and trade scheme for local businesses. It will also impose a carbon tax next year. It supports a new global deal on climate change after the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012 and hopes to play a mediating role between developed and developing countries in this area.

Mr Han has acknowledged that industry leaders are questioning the tough laws the government is introducing to cut carbon emission ahead of many other countries. They worry that their international competitiveness would be affected.

But this government is no Pollyanna. The green growth strategy is more than about addressing environmental and climate change issues. It is also meant to look for new drivers of economic growth that will take the country out of the current economic slump to a new level of development.

It is about reaping the benefits of staying close to the front of the green revolution curve, which is led by the West and Japan. As Professor Kang Sung Jin of the Presidential Council for National Future and Vision told a seminar last month, green growth is not an option.

With developed countries moving in that direction, if countries like South Korea did not follow suit, they would find that they would not be able to export, for example, their cars to countries that have high emission standards. Their economic development would be arrested.

Said Mr Han: 'If we make incremental technological development, we will never, never catch up with (the West). We are going to have to make quantum jumps. We are encouraging the private sector to become more ambitious.'

He acknowledged that there were risks involved as the country would be in unknown territory and unable to learn from the mistakes of others. But he added: 'If we choose the right sectors, we will be able to do well.'

One of the sectors is renewable energy - including solar and wind power and fuel cells - in which he said South Korea is just eight years behind the industry leaders. Also, with the country importing 97 per cent of its energy resource, it makes great sense to go for technology that will allow it to be less dependent on imports.

Other sectors include hybrid and electric cars and LED application. Indeed, a Korean electric car company, CT and T, already has plants in China and Canada and is starting a new plant in the United States this year. The initial five-year plan - which includes the US$38 billion stimulus package announced earlier this year - is expected to generate 1.8 million jobs. South Korea's strong environmental movement thinks this is the right path to take. But it is suspicious of the government's intentions.

'The green growth strategy of the current administration is mixing real green with fake green,' said Mr Choi Yul, head of the Korea Green Foundation, a non- governmental organisation.

He explained that while renewable energy like solar power is green, nuclear power, which the government supports as an interim clean energy source, is not green in the real sense, as it generates dangerous waste. He also takes issue with the four rivers project, noting that building of dams destroys the ecosystems of the rivers. It is 'not green but grey growth', he told The Straits Times.

The US$13.5 billion earmarked for the rivers project would be better used to develop renewable energy, improve the transport system, build energy efficient housing and even run campaigns for people to learn to save energy and lead environment-friendly lifestyles, he added.

Sceptics question President Lee's motive. A conservative, he was nicknamed 'bulldozer' when he was head of construction and engineering giant Hyundai.

But not all Koreans are so angst-ridden. 'The bottom line is the result, that the policy can make life better,' said restaurateur Ahn Young Hwan.