The Ministry of Environment on Feb. 13 signed an agreement with five affiliates including the National Institute of Environmental Research as well as the Korea Environment Institute on cooperation for helping developing economies reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Shown is the logo of last year's 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) last year. (COP29's official Facebook page)

By Gil Kyuyoung

The Ministry of Environment has pledged to help developing economies reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The ministry on Feb. 13 signed an agreement with five affiliates and subsidiaries including the National Institute of Environmental Research as well as the Korea Environment Institute on cooperation to promote such efforts.

This accord was prepared to help such countries fulfill the requirements under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement of the United Nations (U.N.).

Article 6 stipulates the establishment of procedures and systems ranging from approval of international emission-cutting projects to the assessment of reduction performance; verification and certification of the results; preparation and submission of national reports; and setup and operation of a register to track performance.

International organizations such as the U.N. Development Programme and the Green Global Growth Institute run the U.N. Readiness Program, which is designed to help developing states reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such support, however, is considered insufficient for all such countries.

Backed by the expertise and experience of related organizations, the ministry will develop and manage a Korean-style Readiness Program to support such reductions.

The first step is to devise a support process for strengthening capacity for developing economies and build a management system to provide help in a timely manner.

"The Korean-style Readiness Program is significant in that it supports developing countries by using Korea's climate expertise," a ministry statement said. "We will actively back domestic companies so that they smoothly conduct international emission-reduction projects."

gilkyuyoung@korea.kr