Seoul:South Korea will invest 1,000 trillion won (US$745 billion) to achieve its carbon neutrality goals and promote sustainable economic growth by 2035, with an additional 220 trillion won expected from private sector investments.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea-Green Transformation (K-GX) initiative aims to facilitate the adoption of low-carbon production processes in major greenhouse gas-emitting industries such as steel, petrochemicals, cement, semiconductors, displays, and refining. This initiative is part of the government's strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 53-61 percent from 2018 levels by 2035 and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The government plans to secure 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, focusing on the development of solar and wind power generation facilities and expanding the power grid. Additionally, Seoul intends to expand government subsidy programs to ensure that more than 70 percent of new vehicles registered in the country are all-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles by 2035.

Some of the funds will be allocated to help industries prepare for climate risks, providing financial support for aging industrial complexes and sectors like shipbuilding and logistics, which are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions.

In the private sector, companies such as Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc., POSCO Holdings, and Hanwha Qcells have presented plans to adopt renewable energy sources and develop decarbonization technologies. The government also plans to offer tax incentives and ease regulations to encourage private-sector participation in the 10-year K-GX initiative.