This photo provided by the Gyeonggi provincial government shows its headquarters in Suwon.
SUWON, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The Gyeonggi provincial government announced on Monday its commitment to establishing a climate response fund totaling 120 billion won (US$90 million), the largest allocation ever made by a local government towards such an initiative.
The provincial government plans to create the fund over three years, from 2024 to 2026.
The money in the fund will be used to do things that help the environment, like reducing greenhouse gases, improving energy efficiency, and supporting the creation of clean energy sources.
Part of the money will go to help a project called RE100, a global corporate initiative aimed at shifting to 100 percent renewable electricity to lessen the impacts of worsening climate change.
In April, the province rolled out an initiative called Gyeonggi RE100 Vision.
As part of this plan, the province plans to commit to more renewable energy usage, so that by 2030, 30 percent of all the energy used will come from sources like solar and wind power.
The province also committed to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 40 percent.
One big part of the RE100 Vision is changing how public buildings use energy.
Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon has made it his goal to have every public building use only renewable energy while he is in office, and has also set an ambitious target of generating 9 gigawatts of renewable energy.
This represents the equivalent energy production of six nuclear power plants.
The province also wants to set up a group called the Climate Response Fund Management Review Committee, which will decide how to create the fund, how to use it, how to keep track of the money, and how well it’s working.
On the same day, officials notified the provincial assembly of the guidelines proposed for this fund. Legislators will deliberate on these guidelines during a special meeting next month.
“Governor Kim made a promise to start this climate response fund. The 120 billion won is more money than any other big city’s government has put into something like this,” a spokesperson from the provincial government said.
“This money will go a long way to help with dealing with the climate problems we have and help us move to a cleaner and greener way of life.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
