News | Climate Change

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Former-South-Korean-PM-pushes-for-alternative-eco--30150499.html

Former South Korean premier Dr Han Seung-soo was in Thailand to promote new alternatives for protecting the environment since the international community has yet to come up with ideas on dealing with the issue now that the Kyoto Protocol is nearing its end.

Han met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya yesterday to seek cooperation. The Kyoto Protocol commitment is coming to an end next year, yet the signatories still have no clear plans about reducing emissions effectively, Han said.
"We were supposed to find some options in Copenhagen a year earlier, but we failed and it's too late to find alternatives for the protocol now," Han said in an interview.
The Kyoto Protocol is linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is aimed at fighting global warming. Of the 193 states that signed and ratified the protocol, only 42 countries - under Annex I - were committed to reducing emissions.
Thailand's position is to hold a conference and encourage Annex I parties to continue their commitment after 2012. However, Han said the protocol was in a very uncertain position because some countries such as Japan announced in Cancun last year not to renew the commitment.
"Our position is that if we cannot find any global governance system for the climate to replace the Kyoto Protocol, we should find some other alternatives," he said. "So we propose something that lies between the Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 solutions to get out of this difficulty.
"If we continue doing nothing, the temperatures would rise by 6.4 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. No animal or plant can survive under those conditions," Han warned.
He suggested that countries shift their development paradigm from depending on fossil fuel to low carbon-green growth development.
"For this, production factories need new ideas, innovation and technology," he said.
Han exercised his green-growth plan while prime minister from February 2008 to September 2009. Under this plan, South Korea enforced the green policy in three major sectors, namely energy-saving devices; a fusion between manufacturing and information technology as Nano; and value-added services such as global education and global healthcare service.
The former premier holds several positions in the United Nations, including being a member of UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability as well as chairing the High-Level Expert Panel on Water and Disaster and the non-profit Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
Founded last June, GGGI aims to provide services and technology to help developing countries implement green policies. The institute is cooperating with Thailand on emission-reduction programmes as well as eyeing water management in the mekong basin, he said.