South Korean President Moon Jae-in makes his address at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, at the United Nations, New York City, Tuesday (KST). Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



UNITED NATIONS ― South Korea plans to double the amount it has donated to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), bringing the country's total contribution to $200 million by 2023, Cheong Wa Dae said, Tuesday (KST).



In an address at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, President Moon Jae-in said its spending is in line with South Korea's commitment to the international community for the sake of sustainable development and climate change responses.



"As South Korea serves as the chair of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Program, this year, we will fulfill our responsibilities as a member of the international community. I hope that our contributions will serve as an opportunity to further facilitate the activities of the GCF," the President said.



The GCF fund was created as an initiative to convince underdeveloped countries, which aren't responsible for climate change, to commit to curb their pollution under the Agreement. Out of total $7 billion in contributions, some $5.2 billion has been allocated to projects to help poorer countries cut emissions and lessen the impact of climate change, according to U.N. reports.



Stressing the role of the U.N. climate summit to put plans in place to make an impact, the South Korean leader said the country is faithfully implementing the Paris Agreement.



"We've adopted a nationwide emission-trading system for the first time in East Asia. We shut down four coal-fired power plants, and six more plants will be closed by 2022. In January this year, we made public a hydrogen economy roadmap. We are also promoting the expansion of renewable and hydrogen energy use," the President said.



Global carbon emissions increased in 2017 by 1.7 percent and by 2.7 percent in 2018. It's predicted that the increase for this year will be the highest on record urging advanced countries to take action.



In 2016, 196 countries signed the Agreement, promising to combat climate change by taking various action plans to curb the increase in global temperatures. The Agreement requires countries to report on their emissions and what concrete steps they're taking to implement those plans.



South Korea is one of the countries that will participate in this year's U.N. climate summit in New York City.



"These commitments by South Korea will be actively incorporated in the 'Nationally Determined Contribution' and the '2050 Long-term Low Carbon Development Strategy' that will be submitted next year. We will apply 'a variety of measures' for transition to a low-carbon economy at the earliest possible date," the President said.



After wrapping up the address, the President said the country will host the second "P4G Summit" in 2020.



"The P4G Summit, to be held in Seoul next June, will provide an opportunity to strengthen the international community's solidarity behind implementation of the Paris Agreement and sustainable development goals. If cooperation between P4G, GCF, and the Global Green Growth Institute, both based in South Korea, is strengthened, assistance for developing countries will be further increased," he said.



One of the biggest concerns about the GCF is that G20 countries were struggling to fulfil their earlier promises. Critics say countries were "grossly overestimating" the climate relevance of the funds provided.



"The issues of heat waves, floods, typhoons and poor air quality caused by global warming and climate change have now become serious enough problems to be called 'climate crises.' All of the countries around the world should now join forces to formulate concrete goals and strategies and take 'extraordinary action,'" Moon said.



