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| Vice Minister of Environment Park Chun-kyoo speaks during the 10th Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development meeting at the Intercontinental Seoul COEX in Gangnam District, Monday. Courtesy of the Ministry of Environment |
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Korean government, major companies and the United Nations agreed Monday to work together for a sustainable Korean economy, society and environment.
The decision was reached at the 10th Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development meeting. It included the Vice Minister of Environment Park Chun-kyoo, executives from 35 Korean firms and two officials from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Asia and the Pacific ― a U.N.-subsidiary working to reduce poverty and inequality through the sustainable development of nations.
The business group's environment policies were discussed to see how they could be improved. There were 17 on the table, including expanding how carbon emission trading business models can be applied, moderately tightening the particulate matter emission cap and establishing regulations on recycling the by-products of industrial processes.
The 10th ministry-industry meeting since 2014 also shared participating companies' plans to prevent particulate matter-induced air pollution using innovative technologies. And it agreed to establish a task force of civilian experts from private companies to develop new eco-friendly technologies.
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| The 10th Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development meeting included the Vice Minister of Environment, representatives from 35 Korean firms and two environment officials from the United Nations Development Program. Courtesy of the Ministry of Environment |
Vice-Minister Park said the ministry will strengthen its "partnership" with the business group to raise the effectiveness of the companies' environment policies and improve their environmental competitiveness.
UNDP Asia-Pacific's environment chief Yusuke Taishi said the companies' corporate social responsibilities on the environment must be a catalyst for Seoul's "new southern policy" ― President Moon Jae-in's 2017 bid to raise Korea's partnerships with Southeast Asian countries to the level of those of the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The meeting, at the Intercontinental Seoul COEX, came before the joint sustainable business innovation conference by the environment ministry and the UNDP in October.
The Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development was established in 2002. GS Engineering & Construction Vice Chairman Huh Myung-soo has headed it since 2018. It is endorsed by 57 member companies, including GS Caltex, POSCO, SK Innovation and S-OIL, which attended Monday's meeting.
