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Biz bodies gripe at greenhouse gas reduction plan
제목 없음
South Korea's business community on Tuesday expressed concerns about a
government plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, saying it can hurt the
country's economic growth.
The plan, approved by the Cabinet earlier in the day, calls for reducing the country's greenhouse gas emission levels by 30 percent from its 2020 business-as-usual (BAU) level, a follow-up on Seoul's 2009 pledge to voluntarily cut its carbon emissions to help stem global warming.
The country's major business lobbies claimed the move to set reduction targets for 471 companies, including top car maker Hyundai Motor Co., could raise costs and affect global competitiveness.
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a lobby for large businesses, said it supports the overall goal of controlling global warming, but argued that imposing caps will hurt local companies.
"The government's plan is overly ambitious, especially since most of South Korea's leading industries already enjoy top-notch energy efficiency, making it hard to make improvements," an FKI source said.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the country's largest private business organization, said the burden of making cuts should be more dispersed instead of being focused mainly on companies.
Companies in the steel and airline industries also voiced concerns, saying there is a need to recalculate how much cuts need to be made to meet Seoul's 2020 BAU target.
The original target was based on the assumption that 813 million tons of greenhouse gases will be released by the country in 2020 if no cuts are made, up from 600 million tons tallied in 2006.
The final output numbers, however, have been under fire because they do not properly take into account the rise in the country's energy demand, fueled by the solid pace of its economic growth.
Date
2011.07.13
The plan, approved by the Cabinet earlier in the day, calls for reducing the country's greenhouse gas emission levels by 30 percent from its 2020 business-as-usual (BAU) level, a follow-up on Seoul's 2009 pledge to voluntarily cut its carbon emissions to help stem global warming.
The country's major business lobbies claimed the move to set reduction targets for 471 companies, including top car maker Hyundai Motor Co., could raise costs and affect global competitiveness.
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a lobby for large businesses, said it supports the overall goal of controlling global warming, but argued that imposing caps will hurt local companies.
"The government's plan is overly ambitious, especially since most of South Korea's leading industries already enjoy top-notch energy efficiency, making it hard to make improvements," an FKI source said.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the country's largest private business organization, said the burden of making cuts should be more dispersed instead of being focused mainly on companies.
Companies in the steel and airline industries also voiced concerns, saying there is a need to recalculate how much cuts need to be made to meet Seoul's 2020 BAU target.
The original target was based on the assumption that 813 million tons of greenhouse gases will be released by the country in 2020 if no cuts are made, up from 600 million tons tallied in 2006.
The final output numbers, however, have been under fire because they do not properly take into account the rise in the country's energy demand, fueled by the solid pace of its economic growth.
Source: Yonhap News (July 13, 2011)