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LEE Hong-Koo, Former Prime Minister of Korea

Signs of hope in the midst of disappointment in Copenhagen

It is disappointing to see that the UN climate talks in Copenhagen closed without a binding agreement on common action. Yet we need not despair. After all, never before have so many leaders representing the entire global neighborhood recognized the urgent need to tackle the climate challenge and come so close to reaching an agreement for joint action. What we need now is a calm review of the path we have come through in recent years leading into the Copenhagen meeting in order to generate new dynamics to nurture a fresh consensus for climate action.

Looking back we might have been carried away by the excitement of witnessing the climate issue becoming a universal concern in the matter of a decade or so. Consequently, we have entertained unjustified optimism that a universally shared perception of oncoming calamity could easily lead into an international agreement. The Copenhagen meeting has dramatically shown how difficult it is to reach a binding agreement among all the nations in the world even in the shadow of common threat.

Perhaps we have also failed to maintain the crucial balance between the climate and development agendas. Depending upon where you are, the sense of urgency differs significantly, and one should not assume that the climate agenda is automatically given the highest priority universally. There seems to be a latent resentment that exclusive emphasis on the climate issue has somewhat undermined the crucial importance of the development agenda in many parts of the world. Such a sense of uneasiness has undermined the effort to accord the highest priority to the climate agenda in Copenhagen.

What the global community needs most in the post-Copenhagen period is to redouble efforts to build trust among the nations. The commitment by most of the developed countries to participate in $100 billion a year in long-term financing for poor nations to adapt to climate change is a very positive move to build trust among the nations. The so-called "five nation's climate deal" among the United States, China, Brazil, India, and South Africa might also deserve a positive consideration. It is not a legally binding treaty but a serious political statement which nevertheless carries a moral responsibility to the international community. When a nation sets a goal and promises to work for it, its credibility in the family of nations is squarely on the line. This is why President Obama, among others, is determined to maintain the hope that political agreements reached in Copenhagen will eventually result in a binding international agreement within a few years.

We should not forget the fact that some important emerging countries have announced notable commitments just before the Copenhagen meeting. For example, Brazil and Indonesia both committed to significant deviations from business-as-usual scenarios - although conditional on technology and financial  support from developed countries.

Korea joined these ranks by announcing an ambitious plan to cut emissions 30% by 2020, superseding what was expected. This level of commitment is the highest level recommended to an emerging economy by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Korea's economy is still very energy-intensive and heavily dependent on its manufacturing industries. Bringing its emissions growth - which has increased two-fold since 1990 - to a screeching halt will not be an easy task. Yet the Korean government is determined to meet the target unilaterally and unconditionally, whether a global climate pact was reached in Copenhagen or not. The philosophy behind this decision is that the Korean policy objective is not simply aimed at addressing the climate change issue, but at effectively achieving "green growth", independent of what others are doing.

To achieve these goals, Korea has launched the "Low Carbon Green Growth" strategy by annually investing 2% of GDP into the R&D of new green technologies and green infrastructure. President Lee announced in Copenhagen that Korea will establish a Global Green Growth Institute next year with scholars, scientists, and civil society leaders from around the world to come up with workable solutions to our common problems. In the spirit of global partnership, the GGGI can act as a global think tank and as a bridge between the advanced and the developing countries. As long as we trust each other and act together, we can win the global fight against climate change and underdevelopment.