KAIST’s Kim Hyeongjun says energy sector is central driver of climate change

“Because humanity has produced energy while developing society and the economy — and inevitably emitted greenhouse gases — the core cause of climate change lies in the energy sector. To solve it, we have to break one of the links in the chain somewhere along the way.”

Kim Hyeongjun, a chair professor at KAIST’s Moon Soul Graduate School of Future Strategy and Department of AI Futures Studies, made the remarks Tuesday while delivering a lecture titled “The Climate Crisis, Energy Security and South Korea” at the 2026 Aju Economic Daily 2nd Energy Forum, held at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul.

Kim divided climate response strategies into “mitigation” and “adaptation.” He described mitigation as cutting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions through measures such as carbon neutrality, and adaptation as reducing damage as climate change progresses. In energy policy, he said, mitigation is the central pillar, including lowering emissions by improving energy efficiency.

He said climate change is also expanding the ways it shocks the energy industry, pointing to the interdependence of energy and water. About 10% of the world’s water use, he said, goes to cooling during energy production.

“When heat waves hit, cooling becomes less efficient and more water is needed. When droughts occur, it means not only hydropower but also nuclear and thermal plants that require cooling are affected,” Kim said, adding that Europe has already seen cases where droughts forced power plants to halt operations.

“With climate risk now directly tied to the stability of energy supply, energy and water are a structure that cannot be viewed separately,” he said.

Kim also highlighted the growing link between energy and carbon. Of the roughly 50 gigawatts of carbon humanity emits each year, he said, about 37 to 40 gigawatts come from the energy sector — one factor behind compound disasters driven by climate change.

He said renewable energy also interacts with climate. As an example, he said solar power panels, because they are dark, absorb heat and can raise local temperatures; that can create updrafts that form clouds and bring rain, promoting plant growth.

On the demand side, Kim said pressure is rising as electricity use increases, driven by higher cooling demand during heat waves. He said that trend is being compounded by data centers, shifts in industrial structure tied to artificial intelligence, and electrification policies, pushing power demand higher each year.

At the same time, he said, climate change is increasing uncertainty on the supply side and threatening the stability of the overall energy system. In South Korea, he noted, thermal power plants are concentrated along the west coast, where rising seawater temperatures could reduce cooling efficiency — a case in which climate change driven by energy use feeds back into energy production.

“Energy is no longer a problem of a single industry but a complex systems problem, and if we do not respond from an integrated perspective, the crisis will grow,” Kim said. “Climate action is not a cost but an investment. If we curb warming, we can reduce massive economic damage.”

Citing the case of the ozone hole over Antarctica being closed, he added that “the energy transition is not a burden but a new opportunity,” and called for an active response strategy.



* This article has been translated by AI.

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