EU and Republic of Korea sign green partnership

The EU and the Republic of Korea have signed a green partnership to strengthen bilateral cooperation and share best practices in climate action, clean and equitable energy transition, environmental protection and other areas of green transition. The document was signed during the EU-Korea summit in Seoul by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The Green Partnership reaffirms the commitment to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C and strive for climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. In addition, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the 2030 goals. In terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Green Partnership between the EU and the Republic of Korea – priority areas:

• Stepping up efforts to: address climate change (including cooperation on adaptation), set greenhouse gas emission fees, reduce methane emissions, and finance climate change activities;
• Strengthen cooperation on environmental issues with a focus on halting and reversing biodiversity loss, forest degradation and deforestation, promoting a closed-loop economy and addressing the full life cycle of plastics;
• Supporting a clean and equitable energy transition by increasing cooperation in: renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, use of low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, equitable transition away from unabated coal-fired power generation, use of batteries and green mobility, and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS);
• Working with third countries to facilitate their green transition, especially in the areas of climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience, clean and equitable energy transition, and implementation of a closed loop economy;
• joining forces in other areas, such as business cooperation, sustainable financing, research and innovation, sustainable food systems, sustainability and resilience of supply chains, as well as employment and the social dimension of environmental transformation.

The Green Partnership, linking the European Union and the Republic of Korea, is in line with the European Green Deal. The first green partnership was signed with Morocco in October 2022.