Reasons for Proposal
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which came into effect in 1994, is an international convention aimed at minimizing climate change caused by global warming with the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Republic of Korea, as an acceding State to the Convention, is making detailed efforts to carry out the provisions of the Convention by establishing “National Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals for 2030,” implementing a greenhouse gas emission permit system, etc.
Current efforts, however, are focused on greenhouse gas produced domestically, and there have been consistent comments from the international community that the reduction and management of greenhouse gas emission quantity produced due to international operations have been lacking.
As a result, the International Civil Aviation Organization passed a resolution to implement an “International Aviation Carbon Offset and Reduction System” starting from 2021, the International Maritime Organization established a step-by-step roadmap for implementing a ship-produced greenhouse gas reduction system starting from 2023, etc., such that efforts by these two international organizations to reduce greenhouse gases arising from international operations of aircraft and ships are expected to gain greater traction after 2021.
Therefore, this Act aims to provide a legal framework for effective reduction of greenhouse gases produced due to international aviation and maritime navigation by using the current system for the calculation, management, verification, certification, offset, etc. of greenhouse gas emission quantity, which the Government is already setting up in keeping with international efforts.
Details
A. Prescribe that the Minister of Environment shall establish a plan for effective reduction and management of greenhouse gas emission quantity produced due to international operations every planning period and that a Reduction Committee shall be established within the Ministry of Environment (Articles 4 and 5).
B. Prescribe that the Minister of Environment shall designate and give official notice as to any aircraft or ship operators with international operations subject to standards prescribed by Presidential Decree as greenhouse gas emission quantity reduction obligators according to this Act (Article 6).
C. Prescribe that the Minister of Environment shall require reduction obligators to submit a greenhouse gas emission quantity calculation plan and an emission quantity statement, which is a report on actual emission quantity, for the relevant planning period/performance year (Articles 9 and 10).
D. Prescribe that the Minister of Environment shall certify the emission quantity stated in the emission quantity statement submitted by a reduction obligator after deliberation by the Reduction Committee (Article 12).
E. Prescribe that the Minister of Environment shall enable a reduction obligator who has emitted greenhouse gases in excess of the emission quantity goal to offset such excess by purchasing emission offset permits corresponding to the excess quantity as prescribed by Presidential Decree and submit a report on the offset results (Article 13).
F. Prescribe that the Minister of Environment may impose penalty surcharges not exceeding three times the average market price of domestic emission permits in the case where a reduction obligator with a greenhouse gas emission quantity exceeding the emission quantity goal does not offset the excess (Articles 14 and 15).
G. Prescribe that the Minister of Environment shall establish an emission quantity register according to this Act by using the Integrated Information Management System for Greenhouse Gases in Article 45 of the Framework Act on Low Carbon, Green Growth, and systematically manage information on greenhouse gas emission quantity and offset of reduction obligators (Article 16).
H. Support greenhouse gas reduction efforts of reduction obligators, while providing a legal basis to enable the provision of financial and tax support, subsidies, etc. to prevent reduction obligators from suffering a setback in international competitiveness (Article 18).
I. Provide a legal basis to enable the rights and work prescribed in this Act to be delegated/entrusted to an institution under the Ministry of Environment or the Korea Environment Corporation to exercise/carry out such rights/work with expertise (Article 22).
