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[Sustainable Development] Sustainable Development in South Korea |
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by Soyeon Cho | 26-07-2019 17:58
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Sustainable development can be defined as “economic development that is conducted without depletion of natural resources.” Although there are many ways of interpreting this idea, the United Nations have a set of shared goals that strive towards sustainable development with regards to the people, systems, and the environment. These are the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs for short, which were formed on January 2016 following the precedent, Millennium Development Goals (2000~2015). Compared to the 8 MDGs, there are 17 SDGs that address a larger variety of global issues such as extreme poverty, social exclusiveness, and environmental problems. The United Nations and its members states, including South Korea, have agreed to work towards the specific targets by 2030 (UN). The first 6 SDGs mainly address the well-being of the people, such as No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Clean Water and Sanitation. The next six are more focused on improving the systems in society, such as Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation, and Architecture, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Responsible Production and Consumption. The next three are more focused on the planet’s environment: Climate Action, Life Below Water, and Life On Land. Finally, the last two SDGs work on global cooperation: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions and Partnership for the Goals. Although it seems like the three that focus on the environment itself are related to sustainable development, all of these SDGs are interconnected to the idea of sustainable development. Achieving clean water and sanitation will reduce water pollution. Affordable and clean energy will address the issues of climate change. Sustainable cities will form the foundation for protection of the environment, and responsible production and consumption will reduce the waste that harms our well-being and the environment. Partnership will help countries cooperate on any of these SDGs. Therefore, South Korea, as a member state of the UN, is striving to achieve ‘sustainable development’ through a variety of actions. For example, South Korea currently has a volume-rate garbage disposal system for general waste and food waste (with the failure to follow the regulations leading to fines). Also, different types of recyclables are separated in apartment complexes and public spaces. These systems help the regulation of waste disposal. However, its consumption of plastic has become a serious problem over the years, given that the material is abundant in packaging and many other consumer products. After the recycling crisis in 2018 (Lim), in which the recycling plants could not keep up with the overflowing recyclable waste, South Korea has imposed regulations such as bans on plastic straws in cafes. However, more action is needed to further decrease waste consumption and production and address the SDGs such as Responsible Production and Consumption, Life Below Water, and more. Other actions include the Renewable Energy 3020 program, which aims to increase the share of renewable energy in power generation to 20% by 2030 (Cho). This program involved the new Feed In Tariff (FIT) program, in which the renewable energy generators can sell electricity at a fixed price through subsidies while producing the minimum amount of electricity required (Yoo). Finally, the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development for South Korea is working on managing progress on SDGs through improving access to knowledge in portals and of researchers & practitioners, analyzing policies for improvement, making training material, hosting events to promote SDG progress, and cooperating with other related affiliations (UNOSD). Although progress is being made, South Korea could extend their involvement in the Sustainable Development Goals (especially in relation to the environment) by imposing more specific regulations (like the targets within Renewable Energy 3020). “About the Sustainable Development Goals.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/. Cho, Seonggu. “Renewable Energy 3020: How Is It Implemented.” Korea Energy Times, Korea Energy Times, 21 May 2018, www.koenergy.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=100509. “Korea's Role in Sustainable Development.” The Korea Herald, Herald Corporation, 1 Nov. 2015, www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20151101000314. Lim, Sun-young, et al. “Inside the Chaos of Korea’s Plastic Waste Crisis.” Korea JoongAng Daily, JoongAng Ilbo, 6 Apr. 2018, koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3046555. “UNOSD, Republic of Korea.” Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/about/unosd. Yoo, Jimin. “RPS + FIT = Korean FIT.” Energy Center, Energy Center, 19 Sept. 2018, www.energycenter.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=620. |
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4 Comments
Hello Soyeon
Thank you for sharing your detailed report on 17 sustainable development goals and the implementation in Korea. Moreover, I really liked the way you pointed out how all these goals are interconnected, which is the key of understanding sustainable development. Even though South Korea currently initiated a number of environmental regulations including a volume rate garbage disposal and bans on plastic cups in cafes, I think we still have a long way to reduce the waste. I look forward to reading more reports from you!
Wonhee Mentor
Posted 30-07-2019 19:47
It is a very informative article, yet defining 'sustainable development' on the basis of 'economic development' alone might be quite inadequte.
Posted 28-07-2019 19:45
Yes, all goal can't be achieved at once, goals must be priortized according to country's current needs.
Thanks for sharing!!
Posted 28-07-2019 03:02
Hello Soyeon Cho
I do hope that you are fine and doing great with your works.
Thank you for your report about Sustainable Development in South Korea. This is an impressive report and keep up with your great research.
Green Cheers from Nepal :)
Keep writing great reports.
We are eager to read more reports from you.
Regards,
Kushal Naharki
Posted 27-07-2019 22:27