Park Hong-geun, minister of the Office of Planning and Budget, said on the 27th that the government will move to institutionalize a voluntary carbon market as a key tool for meeting carbon-neutrality goals and will pursue the creation of a unified exchange.
Speaking at the launch ceremony for the “Korean-style Voluntary Carbon Market Alliance” at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Park said carbon cuts are “no longer a cost but a new business model that raises corporate value.”
The government also announced its “Korean-style voluntary carbon market development plan,” focusing on building the institutional framework, expanding trading infrastructure and broadening demand to foster a carbon-market ecosystem.
As a legal foundation, it will push to enact a “Voluntary Carbon Market Act.” The bill would include operating a registry institution to manage the full lifecycle of carbon credits — issuance, distribution and retirement — and disclosing evaluation standards to improve transparency and trust.
To strengthen fairness and stability in trading, the government plans to establish a dedicated voluntary carbon market exchange. It aims to open the exchange within the Korea Exchange by the end of this year to consolidate dispersed carbon-credit trading and improve convenience through standardization by product category.
The government also plans to work with overseas rating agencies to bolster international credibility for traded emissions-reduction results and to expand links with international carbon markets.
The newly launched alliance is a public-private governance body bringing together companies, financial institutions and research organizations to connect supply and demand and identify tasks for improving the system.
The government said activating the voluntary carbon market is needed to strengthen incentives for emissions cuts in nonregulated areas, including small and medium-sized companies and startups that are not covered by the emissions trading system, or ETS. The ETS currently covers about 70% of national greenhouse gas emissions, but incentives for the remaining 30% are insufficient, it said.
Park said the government will provide institutional support so the domestic market can become an Asian hub amid the global expansion of carbon markets, and pledged to build a virtuous cycle in which emissions-cutting performance leads to investment and growth.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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