Park vows to up S. Korea's contribution to U.N. body on climate change

South Korean President Park Geun-hye called Tuesday for global action to combat the climate crisis, pledging to contribute up to US$100 million to a U.N. organization aimed at raising funds to curb atmospheric warming.

Park said the contribution includes US$50 million that South Korea is currently paying to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a U.N. body whose secretariat went into operation in South Korea's Songdo, west of Seoul, last year.

"The early capitalization of the GCF is vital to the launch of a new climate regime next year," Park said in a speech at a U.N. climate summit at the U.N. headquarters in New York. "So we look to your contributions to the fund."
 

The climate summit, hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is meant to galvanize action on cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists blame for global warming.

Park called for a change in people's perceptions toward climate change, saying they need to see climate action not as a burden but as an opportunity.

"How we view the climate agenda -- as boon or bane -- will bring huge differences," Park said, adding that investing in the chance to unlock new energy industries and jobs can ignite fresh engines of future growth.

In a separate session, Park also said South Korea will begin to implement a nationwide emissions trading scheme next year to encourage companies to cut greenhouse gases.

Under the plan, South Korean companies that have made cuts can sell the remaining emissions rights, while those that failed to meet the emissions limit can buy such rights that will permit them to avoid paying stiff fines.

Park also called on all countries to join efforts to combat climate change, though she acknowledged that cutting carbon dioxide can be a burden for developing countries.

"All countries need to do their share if we are to limit global warming to two degrees by this century's end," Park said.

She also said South Korea will work to submit its plan to support the post-2020 climate regime next year.

South Korea has made a voluntary commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from business-as-usual levels by 2020.

Seoul made the pledge in 2009, despite not being subject to a mandatory reduction requirement under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international deal aimed at fighting global warming.

"The climate crisis is real," Park said. "And the time to act is now."

Also Tuesday, Park vowed to support the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to ensure that the Seoul-led international organization on green growth can become a reliable partner to developing countries in their transition to a low-carbon economy.

Park made the comment in a ceremony that marked the selection of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the new chair of the GGGI's Council.

In 2012, the GGGI was officially launched as an international entity to put green growth at the heart of economic planning in developing and emerging countries around the world.(Yonhap)