• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.102 no.4
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• pp.491-498
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• 2013

Preliminary feasibility of REDD mechanism to combat forest degradation in North Korea is reviewed as a means of cooperation between South Korea and North Korea. North Korea has not established a national REDD+ strategy and a forest monitoring system which are required to implement REDD+ under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Credible statistical data of forest resources is a necessary condition for implementing REDD mechanism in the developing countries. However, other than forest area data using satellite images, statistical data of forest resources of North Korea are mostly estimated based on simple hypothesis rather than transparent and robust results from national forest inventory. The review of statistical data of forest resources of North Korea shows that North Korea is in a pre-stage of REDD readiness. The study suggests that following research and cooperation agendas should be considered to implement REDD mechanism in North Korea: 1) detecting land use change since 2000, measuring carbon stock change, and identifying causes of deforestation and forest degradation; and 2) establishing a national REDD+ strategy' and a national forest inventory system in North Korea.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2020

The rapid climate change is strengthening carbon emissions regulations internationally. Korea is strongly pressed to accept the obligation to reduce greenhouse gases as one of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This article analyzed the Granger causalities among environmental regulation, economic growth, electricity consumption, and CO₂ emission in Korea, using unit root test, cointegration test, and vector error correction model. As the results, environmental regulation has shown the bidirectional causalities with electricity consumption and CO₂ emission, while being unilaterally affected by economic growth in the long-run and strong relationship. Economic growth has affected electricity consumption, CO2 emission, and environmental regulation in the long-run, in the complex structure of the unilateral and short-run causality with electricity consumption and the bidirectional causality with CO2 emission. The policy implications will be as follows: ① environmental regulation should induce sustainable growth through encouraging technological innovation relating to CO2 reduction and productivity enhancement. ② Responding to the international CO2 reduction regulation, the synthetic policy initiatives will be considered to make synergy effects among policies relating to economic growth, electricity consumption.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.419-449
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• 2022

This paper aims to quantify the potential economic burdens of EU's carbon border adjustment mechanisms faced by Korean domestic industries. In addition, this study tries to compare and analyzes changes in the burden of each industry resulted from the implementation of the domestic low-carbon policy. Based on the quantitative findings, we intend to suggest policy implications for establishing mid- to long-term strategies in response to climate change risks. Based on the environmentally extended input-output analysis, the total economic burdens of the domestic industries due to the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanisms are estimated to be approximately KRW 8,245.6 billion in 2030. Looking at the impacts by industry, it is found that major industries such as petrochemicals, petroleum refining, transportation equipment, steel, automobiles, and electric/electronic equipment industries are expected to account for 84.3% of the total potential burdens. In addition, in multiple policy scenarios assuming technological developments and energy transition following the implementation of domestic low-carbon policies, the total economic burden of carbon border adjustment is expected to decrease by about 11.7% to 15.0%. The main result of this study suggests that we should not view EU EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism as a trade regulation, but to use it as a momentum for more effective implementation of the low-carbon and energy transition strategies in the global carbon neural era.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.502-507
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• 2016

The transition from a carbon economy based on fossil fuels to a hydrogen economy is necessary to ensure energy security and to combat climate change. In order to pursue the transition to a hydrogen economy while achieving sustainable economic growth, a preliminary study into the establishment of the necessary infrastructure for the future hydrogen economy needs to be carried out. This study addresses the economic and environmental interactions in a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model focusing on the economic effects of the introduction of renewable energy into the Korean energy system. Firstly, the introduction of hydrogen results in an increase in the investment in hydrogen production and the reduction of the production cost, ultimately leading to GDP growth. Secondly, the mandatory introduction of renewable energy and associated government subsidies bring about a reduction in total demand. Additionally, the mandatory introduction of hydrogen energy into the power sector helps to reduce CO2 emissions through the transition from a carbon economy-based on fossil energy to a hydrogen economy. This means that hydrogen energy needs to come from non-fossil fuel sources in order for greenhouse gases to be effectively reduced. Therefore, it seems necessary for policy support to be strengthened substantially and for additional studies to be conducted into the production of hydrogen energy from renewable sources.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.7-8
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• 2020

지속가능한 국가 발전을 위한 물관리 정책은 항상 국정 과제의 중심에 있다. 물관리는 수재해예방, 양질의 안정된 물이용, 충분한 식량생산, 수생태계와 물환경의 보호, 효과적 재정투자 등과 같이 다양한 분야에 계층적이면서도 상호연계성 있는 전문성을 요구한다. 동시에 물관리의 효과와 편익은 경제활동의 기반이 되고 환경보전의 원천이므로 정책의 수요는 정부뿐만 아니라 국민과 더불어 자연으로부터 기인한다. 특히 기후변화의 불확실성 또는 감염병 대발생과 국가적 위기에도 지속가능한 국가 발전을 이행하기 위해서는 시의성 있고 유효한 물관리 정책은 필수이다. 그동안 우리나라 물관리 정책의 세분화 또는 파편화는 물관리 전문성 강화의 효과보다는 비효율성의 결과를 더 크게 생산해 왔었다. 특히 부족한 협력과 조정은 과잉·중복 투자, 비일관적 정책, 비효율적 성과라는 왜곡된 통합물관리 정책 순환이 반복되게 하였다. 최근 정부는 국토교통부의 하천수량(홍수 포함) 및 광역상수도 관리 기능을 환경부로 이관하는 물관리일원화를 추진하여 통합물관리의 발판을 마련하는 계기를 달성하였다. 하지만 비록 정부조직법 개정과 물관리기본법 제정으로 통합물관리 정책의 틀은 마련되었으나, 국토교통부가 하천법 상의 일부 사무를 담당하므로서 하천관리 정책의 복잡성과 다원화는 높아졌다. 따라서 하천의 이용 및 관리에 관한 만족도, 관리주체, 미래상, 물관리일원화 후 정책수요, 기후변화에 관한 인식, 하천관리 참여 의향 등을 조사하는 연구는 시급한 실정이며 향후 하천기본계획, 생태하천복원사업, 소하천정비사업 등과 같은 재정사업의 추진 방향에도 매우 중요한 주제라고 할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 현재와 미래 하천의 이용 및 관리, 그리고 정책방향에 대하여 일반 시민(4,500명)과 전문가(168명) 대상의 설문조사를 실시하였으며 인식의 공통점과 차이를 비교분석하였다. 설문조사의 내용은 3가지 부문(하천이용, 하천관리, 하천정책)으로 구분하여 각 부문별로 세부문항으로 구성하였다. 일반 시민과 전문가 간의 인식조사 비교 결과, 공통적으로 시민과 전문가는 하천의 바람직한 미래상으로 '깨끗한 수질의 하천'을 가장 높게 선호하였다. 하천관리 우선순위를 묻는 질문에 대한 시민과 전문가의 응답도 대하천, 도랑이나 개울, 중하천, 소하천 순으로 동일하였지만, 1순위와 2순위의 격차는 시민(26.1%)보다 전문가(1.2%)가 낮았다. 또한 시민과 전문가는 하천관리의 주체로 '물전문기관'을 가장 높게 선호하였지만, 전문가는 '물전문기관' 다음으로 중앙부처(20.2%)를 선호하였지만, 시민은 중앙부처(6.8%)를 가장 선호하지 않는 하천관리 주체로 응답하여 두 집단 간의 큰 인식의 차이를 알 수 있었다. 물관리일원화 후 보다 큰 관심을 가져야할 정책으로는 '건강하고 깨끗한 수질'을 시민(38.9%)과 전문가(47.0%)는 1순위로 선택하였으나, 2순위는 시민은 '생태서식공간'(11.6%)을 전문가는 '안정적 수량확보'(20.2%)를 선택하여 두 집단의 인식 차이가 있음을 알 수 있었다.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.721-733
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• 2023

As the frequency of extreme rainfall events increase due to climate change, climate change adaptation measures have been proposed by the central and local governments. In order to reduce flood damage in urban areas, various flood response policies, such as low impact development techniques and enhancement of the capacity of rainwater drainage networks, have been proposed. When these policies are established, regional characteristics and policy-effectiveness from the cost-benefit perspective must be considered for the flood mitigation measures. In this study, capacity enhancement of rainwater pipe networks and low impact development techniques including green roof and permeable pavement techniques are selected. And the flood reduction effect of the target watershed, Gwanak campus of Seoul National University, was analyzed using SWMM model which is an urban runoff simulation model. In addition, along with the quantified urban flooding reduction outputs, construction and operation costs for various policy scenarios were calculated so that cost-benefit analyses were conducted to analyze the effectiveness of the applied policy scenarios. As a result of cost-benefit analysis, a policy that adopts both permeable pavement and rainwater pipe expansion was selected as the best cost-effective scenario for flood mitigation. The research methodology, proposed in this study, is expected to be utilized for decision-making in the planning stage for flood mitigation measures for each region.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.264-279
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• 2023

The 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention was in 2022. In order to reflect on the present and future of the meaning of World Heritage, this paper examines the development and changes of the UNESCO World Heritage system. After promulgating the convention in 1972, the UNESCO World Heritage system prioritized the protection of heritage sites in the world that were at risk due to armed conflicts and natural disasters to bequeath heritage to the next generation. In addition, the UNESCO World Heritage's emphasis on Outstanding Universal Value represents the particular culture of human beings formed during a certain period of time, and acts as a significant source of soft power in public diplomacy. The UNESCO World Heritage might be perceived as a shared heritage that has not only become a channel to understand various national values, but also an effective medium to convey one of UNESCO's main principles, that is, peacebuilding. However, the UNESCO World Heritage is now at the center of conflicts of heritage interpretation between many stakeholders related to invisible wars, such as cultural wars, memory wars, and history wars as the social, political, and cultural contexts concerning World Heritage have dramatically shifted with the passing of time. Paying attention to such changing contexts, this paper seeks to understand the main developments in UNESCO World Heritage's discourse concerning changes to the World Heritage Operation Guidelines and heritage experts' meetings by dividing its 50-year history into five phases. Next, this paper analyzes the main shifts in keywords related to UNESCO World Heritage through UNESDOC, which is a platform on which all UNESCO publications are available. Finally, this paper discusses three main changes of UNESCO World Heritage: 1) changes in focus in World Heritage inscriptions, 2) changes in perception of World Heritage protection, and 3) changes of view on the role of the stakeholders in World Heritage. It suggests new emerging issues regarding heritage interpretation and ethics, climate change, and human rights.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.2
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• pp.233-243
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• 2021

Considering worldwide efforts to mitigate repercussions of climate change, the South Korean government has declared to reach net zero by 2050 to achieve a carbon-neutral sustainable society. For full implementation of NDCs, the government has actively reflected its forestry sector into these strategies. Since coarse woody debris (CWD) in forests represents an enduring carbon storage, it is of particular significance to determine characteristics of changes in carbon stocks of CWD by utilizing data on dead trees monitored in permanent sample plots within national forest inventories (NFIs). In this study, therefore, both occurrence and carbon stocks of CWD were estimated in such plots using data on CWD from the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th NFIs. Subsequently, characteristics of changes in carbon stocks over time were analyzed. Based on the analysis of 2,021 plots available for monitoring in each NFI of Gangwon Province, the volume of CWD (m³ ha^-1) was found to be 4.71 in the 5^th NFI and 4.09 in the 6^th NFI. However, the volume of CWD declined to 3.09 in the 7^th NFI. Moreover, the annual carbon stocks of CWD (ton C ha^-1) were estimated to be 0.67 in 2009, 0.64 in 2014, and 0.41 in 2019, showing a downward trend over time. This study provides a basis for future research to investigate long-term changes and estimate carbon stocks of CWD in South Korea forests.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.3-20
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• 2014

Due to habitat damage associated with climate change and human activities, biodiversity has decreased all over the world. In order to prevent further reduction in biodiversity, the international community has endeavored to establish a cooperative system, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Until now, most biodiversity strategic planning has been led by the national government. However, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is conservative and its strategic plan is vague. Therefore, we propose a method for managing local biological resources called the Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. In order to provide the strategic plans and detailed plans for the Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, the report has examined several cases including Convention on Biological Diversity, Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and the biodiversity strategies and action plans of the Republic of Korea and several other countries. As a result, the report demonstrates the survey and protection of bio-species, the designation and monitoring of conservation region, the management of the integrated eco-network, the establishment of biodiversity organizations and capacity building, the methods to promote networking and traditional knowledge, and the strategy for development in bioindustry. Consequently, the implementation of biodiversity management strategies by local governments will play a significant role in preserving and increasing biodiversity by realizing the goals of Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.147-161
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• 2023

As global challenges, particularly climate change, become more pressing, there is a growing global awareness of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management. Given the crucial role played by the logistics industry in the complex network of the global supply chain, various societal stakeholders are emphasizing the necessity for logistics entities to practice ESG management. Despite the comprehensive ESG guidelines established by Korea for all enterprises, a notable limitation arises from its inadequate consideration of the distinctive features inherent to logistics enterprises, especially those of a smaller and medium scale. Accordingly, this study conducts a thorough examination of existing ESG guidelines, sustainable management approaches in large-scale logistics enterprises, and prior research to identify potential ESG management diagnostic criteria relevant to small and medium-sized logistics enterprises, including aspects such as Public(P), Environmental(E), Social(S), and Governance(G). To streamline the diagnostic criteria, taking into account the unique characteristics of small and medium-sized logistics enterprises, this study conducts a survey involving 60 logistics company personnel and experts from academic and research domains. The collected data undergoes Principal Component Analysis (PCA), revealing that the four dimensions of information disclosure can be consolidated into a single dimension. Additionally, environmental criteria reduce from 16 to 3 items, societal considerations decrease from 22 to 7 items, and governance structures distill from 20 to 5 items. This empirical endeavor is deemed significant in presenting tailored ESG management diagnostic criteria aligned with the specificities of small and medium-sized logistics enterprises. The findings of this study are expected to serve as a foundational resource for the development of guidelines by relevant entities, promoting the wider adoption of ESG management practices in the sphere of small and medium-sized logistics enterprises in the near future. population coming from areas other than Gwangyang, where Gwangyang Port is located.