Green Growth Committee to Head Environment Policy

The Presidential Committee on Green Growth said yesterday that it will coordinate environment-related ministries to boost the effectiveness of government policy to protect the environment and pursue green growth.

The council’s comment came after The Dong-A Ibo said Tuesday that lack of coordination among related ministries led to ineffectiveness and budget waste in green management.

Committee chairman Kim Hyung-kook told reporters yesterday at an international conference on green growth at Seoul’s Lotte Hotel, “The (Dong-A Ilbo’s) comment is quite right. We will pay more attention to narrowing differences that have grown over decades among relevant ministries, and coordinate the tasks of each ministry.”

Citing river management as an example of an overlapping task, Kim said the Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Ministry controls water levels while the Environment Ministry supervises water quality.

“Some say we should create an organization like China’s water resources department to control all related organizations, but given that the tasks of each ministry are interrelated, proper coordination based on recognition of what each ministry is doing will solve the problem,” he said.

“From the perspective of social welfare, the project to restore the country’s four major rivers is a green new deal that creates jobs and a green growth strategy from a long-term perspective,” he added. “Infrastructure construction has been focused on roads, but we should now develop water resources to lay the foundation for long-term growth.”

On reduction targets for greenhouse gases, Kim said the committee will play a mediating role between businesses and civic groups and detailed targets should be determined at the parliamentary committee on climate change.

The one-day conference jointly held by 11 state-run institutes and the United Nations discussed cooperation in green growth.

peacechaos@donga.com