Vice FM attends in-person preparatory meeting for COP26 climate summit

Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon attended a high-level meeting on climate change in London this week to discuss efforts to advance carbon emission goals ahead of an upcoming multilateral summit, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The two-day ministerial talks for the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) that ended Monday (local time) focused on how to implement the goals pledged by countries in the Paris Agreement on tackling climate change and encourage those who have yet to set the targets higher to do so, the ministry said.

Britain is due to host the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November, a year after its postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the talks, Choi stressed the need for all countries to declare carbon neutrality by 2050 so as to achieve progress in the path toward capping the global warming increase to below 1.5 degrees C under the Paris Agreement.

Choi called for countries to take more active steps, such as submitting higher nationally determined contributions (NDC), before the COP26 summit for a successful outcome of the gathering, the ministry said.

South Korea has made a pledge to the U.N. that it will reduce carbon emissions by 24.4 percent from the 2017 level by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It said state-run companies will stop financing foreign coal power projects.

In London, Choi also reaffirmed Seoul's commitment to realizing "the inclusive carbon neutrality" and asked for support for his country's bid to host the COP28 summit in 2023.

Along with South Korea, more than 50 countries attended the ministerial talks, including the United States, the European Union, China, Japan and Canada. (Yonhap)