Progress report for
Local Governments Actions for SDGs in the Republic of Korea
Achievement at a glance
The concept of Sustainable Development and its philosophy is yet to be familiar to the general public in South Korea. However, it seems the term Sustainability is very much visible and recognized in the market, attracting responsible and intelligent consumers, and so does for local governments in South Korea. As the Green New Deal is taking one of the central parts of a ‘Korean New Deal’ package of the current Moon Jae-in administration, the field called Green sees a brighter future expecting more resource inflows. Moreover, the official announcement of the South Korean government’s will on Carbon Neutrality by 2050 facilitated the talks for institutionalizing the actions related to the Green New Deal. Thus, COVID-19 advances the transition towards a sustainable and resilient future, tacking the pandemic to be followed by the climate crisis. In the meantime, Dangjin city published its VLR(Voluntary Local Review) report for the first time in South Korea, and ICLEI Korea Office is actively disseminating the achievement.Challenges faced in implementation
Weakened activities and campaign due to COVID-19 pandemicKorea Festival on Sustainable Development is the biggest gathering of local actors working on sustainable development. However, physical meetings over 100 people are prohibited as a measure against the pandemic, this year’s festival was switched to a virtual event, which of course, works but not enough to facilitate the meaningful change. Aside from it, most of the actions for sustainable development on the ground were virtualized or postponed.
Beneficiaries
Citizens in South Korea