Which local government takes the leadership to deliver the carbon neutrality in marine sector?

- Open contest to select municipal governments that will implement the Carbon Neutrality Ocean New Deal Project led by local community members from Sep. 13th to Nov. 30th -

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok) announced that from 13th September (Monday) to 30th November (Tuesday) it would hold an open contest to select the municipal governments that implement ‘Regionally-driven Carbon Neutrality Ocean New Deal* Project (hereinafter “Ocean New Deal Project”)’ starting next year.

* Carbon-neutral projects under the new project for the Promotion of Fishing Communities Vitality, as part of the Fishing Communities New Deal 300 project

The Ocean New Deal Project aims to promote carbon neutrality in the coastal regions, vulnerable to the climate change including sea level rise. Municipalities in coastal areas are to establish project plans that utilize their marine resources ①to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, ②to switch to renewable energy, and ③to enhance ocean carbon absorption. MOF will  correspondingly provide national subsidy support for 70% of the total project expenses up to a maximum of KRW 7 billion over 4 years.

In 2022, the year of the project rollout, two locations are to be selected as pilots to build on the representative model of the Ocean New Deal Project. The initial scope will include carbon mitigation projects* exploiting the coast and the area behind it. The local municipal governments can cooperate with regional governments to prepare for their project plans.

*  Consist of carbon neutral projects that make good use of coast and marine to absorb and mitigate greenhouse gas or to supply renewable energy, and projects to build infrastructure to deliver carbon neutrality.

MOF will carry out onsite assessments and comprehensive evaluation with the project selection committee consisting of experts in this fields,  and announce the granted municipalities in December 2021. The project selection committee will mainly review on the feasibility and specificity of the project plans, the carbon mitigation benefits, and the operation plans of the projects.

Moreover, MOF plans to set up an Ocean New Deal Project Preparation Support Team at the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation (CEO Han Kijun) during the competition period to support the project planning of the municipalities so that they can receive consulting services from the team of expert advisers.
More details on the Ocean New Deal Project, including instructions on how to apply and relevant templates, can be found on the websites of MOF (www.mof.go.kr) and Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation (www.koem.or.kr).

Yoon Hyun-soo, Director General of Marine Environment Policy Division of MOF, said that “the ocean is a major carbon sink and also the perfect place to generate renewable energy on idle space” and added that “MOF will develop the representative model for carbon neutrality customized to coastal regions through next year’s Ocean New Deal pilot project and will continue to expand it across the nation.”