Policy Overview

In October 2021, President Moon Jae-in's government announced the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenario, which presents two scenarios for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Plan A suggests a complete phase-out of all thermal power generation, transition to electric and hydrogen vehicles, production of green hydrogen, and increase of renewable energy percentage to 70.8%. Meanwhile, Plan B suggests maintenance of some LNG power plants with CCUS, usage of environment-friendly fuel for ICE vehicles, production of blue and gray hydrogen, and increase of renewable energy percentage to 60.9%.

Key industry and civil society sectors were invited to comment over a period of two months on the contents of the draft Carbon Neutrality Scenario. The final Carbon Neutrality Scenario was passed into law in October 2021.

The current President Yoon Seok-yeol has not explicitly commented on whether his government will maintain the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenario, although he has confirmed that the government will maintain the 2030 emissions reduction target set by the Moon administration. However, the Carbon Neutrality Scenarios are intended to be used by individual Ministries to inform their transition roadmaps, and it is expected that with the new government these ministry scenarios will be amended.

Evidence Profile

82414102

Key

opposing not supporting mixed/unclear
supporting strongly supporting

Policy Engagement Overview

The aggregated evidence shows that industry associations have taken mostly oppositional positions towards the climate ambition of the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenario, with only the Korea New and Renewable Energy Association actively supporting the ambition of the policy roadmaps.

Certain corporations provided detailed responses to the 2050 Carbon Neutral Scenario consultation, including KEPCO, POSCO, SK E&S, LOTTE Chemical, and Hanwha Solutions. However, other individual corporations have remained largely silent on the details of the Carbon Neutrality Scenario.

Policy Engagement Trends

The Korea New and Renewable Energy Association (KNREA) has taken a supportive position on the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenario, supporting the early implementation of a follow-up action plan to the policy roadmap.

The Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) appeared to not support the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenario, in contrast to its support for the 2050 target. The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) strongly opposed the Carbon Neutrality Scenario when it was first announced in August 2021, expressing concern that the reduction targets for the industrial sector were too high. The Independent Power Producers Association (IPPA) and the Korea Petroleum Association (KPA) also did not support the Scenarios, citing concerns about feasibility within their industries.

Companies such as KEPCO, POSCO, and SK E&S, gave detailed comments on the energy mix portions of the Carbon Neutrality Scenarios, with mostly negative positions on a rapid transition of the energy mix away from fossil fuels, instead promoting technologies such as LNG and ammonia co-firing with coal.

Evidence Profile

82414102

Key

opposing not supporting mixed/unclear
supporting strongly supporting

Entities Engaged on Policy

The table below lists the entities found to be most engaged with the policy. InfluenceMap tracks over 400 companies and 200 industry associations globally. Each entity name links to its full InfluenceMap profile, where the evidence of its engagement can be found.

Influencemap Performance BandOrganizationEngagement Intensity
DKorea Iron and Steel Association (KOSA)21Metals & MiningAsia
D+Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)28UtilitiesAsia
D+Hyundai Steel Co12Metals & MiningAsia
E+Korea Independent Power Producers Association (IPPA)10EnergyAsia
EKorea Automobile & Mobility Association (KAMA) (formerly Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association)22AutomobilesAsia
D-Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF)16All SectorsAsia
D+POSCO29Metals & MiningAsia
EKorea Petroleum Association (KPA)12EnergyAsia
E-Federation of Korean Industries (FKI)20All SectorsAsia
D+SK E&S13EnergyAsia
C-H2KOREA13EnergyAsia
B+Korea New and Renewable Energy Association (KNREA)11EnergyAsia
DGS Caltex11EnergyAsia