Climate Change Center

On December 4, Chairman Jai-chul Choi of the Climate Change Center delivered an invited lecture at the 2025 Autumn Conference of the Korea Society of Climate Change Research in Busan (BEXCO), speaking on the theme “The Rise of the Climate Economy and the Energy Transition.” He stressed that the global response to the “three planetary crises” — climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss — is increasingly challenged as short-term political and economic priorities take precedence, emphasizing the need to restore climate action as a top-tier long-term national strategy.

Chairman Choi highlighted that the Paris Agreement and the NDC framework remain the backbone of global climate governance despite heightened geopolitical uncertainty. He provided a sober assessment of the structural implications of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its shift toward fossil-fuel–friendly policies, noting emerging challenges such as delayed 2035 NDC submissions, widening gaps in mitigation and energy-transition plans among major economies, and the growing prevalence of “under-promising and over-delivering” approaches.

He emphasized that Korea must strengthen its policy, industrial, and investment strategies to avoid falling behind in the global climate-economy transition. “Climate response is a complex agenda that links energy, industry, and national security,” he noted, adding that current uncertainty offers Korea a unique opportunity to proactively design its climate-economic strategy. He reaffirmed the Climate Change Center’s commitment to deepening its role as a central hub connecting international cooperation with practical policy implementation.