"Why do you need a New Deal drawn in the post Corona era?"
In the beginning of the interview with Kim Seong-hwan, a Democratic Party member, he asked directly. Rep. Kim did not worry for a long time and immediately gave the answer.
"It is a great opportunity to invest in a green new deal now in a global recession with Corona 19. If the government needs to spend money to save the economy, it should be used in the right place. Building a decarbon infrastructure and investing in converting green industries It is a great stimulus to choose from.
"Reducing human production activities to overcome the climate crisis is not an alternative," Kim said. "Because of this, we need to create new industries and jobs that do not depend on carbon. This is a green new deal." He said, "It is a necessary survival strategy to establish a virtuous cycle that creates new industries and jobs in the mid- to long-term through a major transition to a decarbonized green system to overcome the climate crisis."
'Green New Deal' that came to the fore after mentioning President Moon
Green New Deal has emerged as a topic of politics since President Moon Jae-in said on the 12th at the State Council that "the new version of the Korean deal should be included in the Korean version of the New Deal." Green New Deal is a new socio-economic paradigm that transforms human production activities into renewable energy bases to prevent the climate crisis. The goal is to ultimately stop using fossil fuels in the energy, transportation, residential (building), and industrial sectors, such as converting renewable energy, distributing eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles, and green remodeling (improvement in building energy efficiency), thereby dramatically reducing carbon emissions. .
Rep. Kim, who was elected to the National Assembly in the 2018 re-election election, has been pursuing various projects with great interest in the Green New Deal since his presidency. It is typical to supply 121 households of zero-energy housing to Nowon-gu. This is the first home in Korea that does not use fossil fuels for air conditioning and lighting. In addition, the necessary heating is obtained by geothermal energy, and the remaining electricity is obtained by sunlight. President Moon Jae-in attended the Open House event held in December 2017, showing great interest.
Even after joining the National Assembly, Kim worked on the Small and Medium Venture Business Committee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for the past two years, exploring the possibilities of creating new industries and jobs through green new deals. In the 21st general election, they tried to include the Green New Deal in the Democratic Party's pledge. The government also took the lead in conveying the ruling party's opinion that the Korean version of the new deal must include the green new deal.
"The Korean version of the New Deal focuses on short-term stimulus measures, so the digital New Deal seems to be the center, but we also need to worry about the mid- to long-term task-oriented economic paradigm shift," said President Moon Jae-in. It was because the party's proposal was reflected,” said the Blue House and the government.
"Google and Apple are 100% renewable energy... Green New Deal is directly connected to manufacturing competitiveness"
In the interview, Assemblyman Kim emphasized that the Green New Deal is not only an environmental policy to prevent the climate crisis, but an economic growth strategy that creates new industries and jobs. "The renewable energy industry and the energy efficient industry are labor-intensive while reducing greenhouse gases, and thus have a substantial effect in terms of industry and employment." In the UK, between 1985 and 2016, GDP increased by 70.7% and carbon emissions were 34.2%. "In Germany, we are creating more jobs in the solar, wind and hydrogen energy sectors of the Green New Deal than in the traditional manufacturing sector."
Especially, in order to secure the global competitiveness of the domestic manufacturing industry, Kim said that investing in green new deals is not an option but a necessity. "Many global big companies such as Google and Apple are not only running their production facilities with 100% renewable energy, but are also demanding products produced by renewable energy from suppliers," said Rep. Kim. Apple is asking Samsung Electronics to produce and supply semiconductors as renewable energy."
He pointed out that "renewable energy conversion is an economic problem in the end and is directly related to the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry."
Assemblyman Kim expressed regret over the'green growth' that ended with the Four Rivers project during the Lee Myung-bak administration. He said, "The Lee Myung-bak administration was actually green growth in words, and it actually did four major river projects and consequently damaged the word green growth." They have suffered a lot of damage, but if they had promoted proper green growth, our companies could have secured sufficient technological competitiveness in the field of renewable energy.”
Rep. Kim also said he wanted to focus on laying the foundation for a bold paradigm shift through the Green New Deal in the 21st National Assembly. "The decarbonization is a long-term task, so we need to lay the foundation for the remaining two years of the Moon Jae-in government and prepare for the next government to move forward," he said. I will actively take the initiative to support the institutionalization through legislation so that it can be resolved.”
Interview with Assemblyman Kim lasted for an hour and 30 minutes in the office of the National Assemblyman on the 21st. The following is a one-and-one answer with Congressman Sung-Hwan Kim.
"Climate crisis is 1000 times stronger than the corona crisis"
-I know that I paid special attention to the Green New Deal by supplying zero-energy homes for the first time, even when I was in the office of Nowon-gu. Did you have any interest in Green New Deal?
"The most serious crisis that has been coming now is the climate crisis. There have been five major extinctions so far, and many scholars warn that the sixth extinction target will be humanity. Korea is too slow to prepare for this problem, and in Europe and the United States, the Green New Deal is a strategy to create new industries and jobs through the transition from carbon civilization, which was the basis of the industrial revolution, to decarbonization. In terms of industry, there is a sense of crisis that if we slow down, we will inevitably lose competitiveness in the new industry.
Nowon-gu's zero-energy housing is an example that proves that people can live comfortably without carbon in the most important area of human life. If a nation like energy zero housing is promoted nationwide in the construction sector, which accounts for about 10% of the country's GDP, it can save the planet, create technological innovation, create added value in the construction sector, and create more jobs."
-Nevertheless, the Korean version of the New Deal, which is being promoted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, was criticized for not showing any concerns about the Green New Deal.
"The government seems to be focusing on short-term stimulus measures, and it seems that the digital new deal has become the center. There should also be a concern about the mid- to long-term task-oriented economic paradigm shift. The digital new deal and the green new deal are not contradictory. They are complementary relationships. The ruling party also informed the government that the Green New Deal should be included in the Korean version, and that President Moon Jae-in was concerned about the Green New Deal and was willing to pursue it. Now that we have done this, we need to design a policy that can create synergy between the two."
-What is the reason you need a green new deal in the post-corona era?
"Reducing human production activities to overcome the climate crisis is not an alternative. We need to create new industries and jobs that are not carbon-dependent. This is a green new deal. As a decarbonized green system to overcome the climate crisis, Building a virtuous cycle that creates new industries and jobs in the mid to long term through a major transformation is an essential survival strategy."
Especially with Corona 19, the global economic downturn is now a great opportunity to invest in green new deals. If the government needs to spend money to save the economy, it should be used in the right place. Building a decarbon infrastructure and investing in converting to a green industry is comparable to a large-scale stimulus package that the government can choose. Green New Deal investment is also a global trend. The European Union, which is pursuing a'green deal', also announced in January that it would invest at least 1 trillion euros and about 1340 trillion won in Korean money for innovation and job creation in the green field."
"Germany, Renewable Energy Jobs Beyond Automotive Industry
-However, there is still a strong view of Green New Deal as an environmental policy. Why can it be an economic growth strategy such as job creation?
"As far as fossil fuel-based economies grow, environmental pollution gets worse. So, "green" was perceived as a concept to be opposed to growth. For example, the renewable energy industry and the energy-efficient industry are labor intensive while reducing greenhouse gases, which has a real effect in terms of industry and employment.In the UK, between 1985 and 2016, GDP increased by 70.7%, resulting in carbon emissions. In Germany, more jobs are being created in the solar, wind, and hydrogen energy sectors, equivalent to the Green New Deal, than in the traditional manufacturing sector, with less fossil energy and human beings coexisting with nature to achieve economic growth. It is doing.
Conversely, if you do not hurry, the climate as well as the economy will be in great danger. Stanford University published its research report in February this year. In the case of Korea, if 100% is converted to renewable energy by 2050, jobs will increase by 1.44 million and the cost of responding to the climate crisis will decrease by 192 trillion won."
-What was the achievement in the United States or the European Union, which is ahead of Korea?
"In Germany, the number of workers in the automobile manufacturing industry is about 400,000. However, the number of jobs in the renewable energy industry has already exceeded the number of workers in the automobile industry. The city of Bremen in Germany was a shipbuilding city. The city of Esbjerg, Denmark, was a small port city located in Gunsan-si, Korea, where it turned into a wind farm in Europe, where the entire city ate and lived as a wind power industry. The Green New Deal in the Energy Sector has increased the number of jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector to 305 million over the past eight years, which is a great number compared to the employment of only 90,000 in the coal-fired power generation industry."
-People who misunderstand the Green New Deal may say that it is the same as the'green growth' of the Lee Myung-bak administration.
"Sorry and regrettable. The Lee Myung-bak administration actually said that it was green growth, and actually did four major river projects. As a result, it damaged the word green growth. At the time, when the Lee Myung-bak government talked about green growth, it invested in hopes of revitalizing the renewable energy conversion industry. Prepared companies have suffered a great deal of damage: Vestas and Siemens of Denmark, the world's best in wind power technology, weren't at the same time at that time. It is a pity that we missed a good time, but even now the government has to give a clear message to the market and grow the renewable energy sector."
"The urgent thing is green remodeling, which has a great effect on creating short-term jobs."
-If there is a green new deal field that needs to be promoted urgently?
"There are three main areas for reducing carbon. The building, transportation, and power industries. In the short term, there is a need to promote green remodeling to increase the energy efficiency of buildings. Corona 19 has the effect of creating short-term jobs in a severe employment crisis. For example, in the case of school building remodeling, solar facilities can be installed on the rooftops, windows can be replaced with high insulation performance, and digitization is used to change the digital economy while using less energy. Even in the case of old industrial complexes, it is necessary to install solar power on the roof of an empty building and to increase the insulation performance of the building itself, and at the same time, the interior can be upgraded to a smart factory. In this case, it can also contribute to the revitalization of local construction industry and job creation."
-The key to Green New Deal is that it must be converted to renewable energy.
"The energy sector is the most innovative sector in Korea. In Korea, where there are more than 60 thermal power plants, technological innovation and job creation are possible in the process of establishing a renewable energy conversion infrastructure such as solar power and wind power. As the specific gravity increases, the energy system also needs to shift from a centralized to a regional decentralized system.In the case of renewable energy, the output varies depending on the weather, but if electricity is left, the supply should be stabilized by adjusting the shortage. It is the point where the digital new deal and the green new deal meet. Through such infrastructure investment, it is necessary to promote the early withdrawal of thermal power generation."
-Then, the role of local governments in the process of converting renewable energy will also become important.
"Converting to renewable energy means changing the energy delivery system to a decentralized type. In the future, energy decentralization will also become an important agenda. We need an energy decentralization in which the local government participates. The relief is'Let's save the earth and make money.' The members invested 140 million won to install the 99kW production facility, which is better than expected.It started on April 8. We have made a profit. Under the current law, it is not possible to do a separate profit business on the roof of the apartment, so we rented the roof of the library. We need to loosen these regulations so that local residents can do it themselves."
-The prejudice that renewable energy is expensive is still difficult.
"In Europe, solar and wind power generation has begun to be more competitive in price than nuclear power plants or coal power plants. The UK is an example. The UK tried to build a nuclear power plant three years ago, but it is cheaper and more sustainable than nuclear power plants. In the short term, Hitachi, Japan, jumped into the UK nuclear power plant business and invested more than 3 trillion won to give up and escaped. Before de-mineralization, de-coal is inevitable."
-Increasingly, global companies are proclaiming 'zero carbon' not to use fossil fuels in the production process.
"Many global large companies such as Google and Apple are using renewable energy. Many global large companies such as Google and Apple are not only running their production facilities with 100% renewable energy, but also demanding products produced by renewable energy from suppliers. In the case of BMW, Apple is asking LG Chem to produce and supply batteries for electric vehicles, and Samsung to produce and supply semiconductors as renewable energy.In the end, the conversion of renewable energy is an economic issue and is directly related to manufacturing competitiveness. If there is no supply, large companies will have to set up factories overseas to meet the requirements, there may be trade barriers, Europe is already adopting a carbon border tax, and for industrial competitiveness, expanding renewable energy and related infrastructure It's an important task."
"The 21st National Assembly should lay the groundwork for the great transformation of decarbonization civilization."
-Under the direction of President Moon Jae-in, the Ministry of Environment is preparing a green new deal policy, but what do you think should be the key?
"The government plan focused on building energy efficiency with a focus on green remodeling. Although it is a necessary project in the short term, it needs to be supplemented in the long term. In the Democratic Party, in order to secure new growth engines in the long term, renewable energy industry, future car industry, ICT industry Proposed large-scale investment and policy support for etc. These are the policy visions to go to a carbon-free society in 2050 by expanding the power grid ICT infrastructure, building green hydrogen, building a smart-green industrial complex, building a smart green city, and expanding the proportion of future cars. We plan to revise and supplement our business plan as we continue."
-The government delayed plans to exit coal-fired power generation and set the share of renewable energy up to 35% by 2040.
"It's true that we're very short on the goals and means of stopping the climate crisis. We need to push for a drastic shift. To stop the increase in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees, we need to cut carbon emissions by 40-50% from 2010 levels by 2030, and 2050." Carbon zero should be achieved by the year."
-The case of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, which has fallen into a management crisis, is also suggestive. Greenpeace also criticized Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, a coal power plant and nuclear power plant manufacturer, that it is not appropriate for Korea to invest public funds.
"It is true that Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction was unable to read the trend of the times and concentrated on the business portfolio centered on coal and nuclear power plants. The global trend shows that the business needs to switch to renewable energy and is in crisis. What is put in is not to continue the existing business, but to demand that it be reborn as a renewable energy company.If public funds are not used to transform the business, it can pour into the poison that has fallen under.In the global wind power market, 10 megawatts has already been commercialized. Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is at the 5 megawatt level, and the technological gap must quickly catch up, so there is a future. Germany's Siemens was also a nuclear power plant, but switched to a renewable energy business to win.
-What do you think must be done in the 21st National Assembly regarding the Green New Deal?
"In the 21st National Assembly, we need to set a bold policy goal and lay the foundation for a great transition to remove institutional barriers and go to decarbonization. The 21st National Assembly starts in the middle of the term of the Moon Jae-in government. Since decarbonization is a long-term task, Moon Jae-in's government needs to lay the groundwork for the rest of the two years and prepare for the next government to pursue further policies.Create a long-term roadmap for 30 years by 2050 and create a new industry to prevent climate crisis We need to raise jobs and create jobs. I plan to actively support the institutional support through legislation so that I can solve the challenges necessary for the transition to the 4th industrial society while overcoming the climate crisis."