1. In celebration of the 5th anniversary of the conclusion of the Paris Agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the “Roundtable on Governance for Climate Action" at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on December 11 with the aim of strengthening Korea’s green governance and leadership in the post-COVID-19 era and securing momentum for the success of the 2nd P4G Summit to be held in Korea from May 30 to 31, 2021.

2. At the Roundtable, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Stimson Center and the Global Challenges Foundation, global think tanks based in Washington, D.C., the U.S. and Stockholm, Sweden, respectively, climate action experts from home and abroad made presentations and had discussions in Session 1 on “Building on the P4G Summit: Towards a Successful COP26 with Mission-Driven Exponential Climate Action” and Session 2 on “International Financing for Innovation and Exponential Climate Action: The Role of Finance Governance and Best Practices for Green Innovation.”

o In his welcoming remarks, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Taeho reminded the participants that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the entire world to go through difficult times but at the same time raised the alarm over climate change and environmental destruction, and expressed hope that the 2nd P4G Summit in 2021 would serve as an opportunity for the international community to promote green recovery in the process of post-COVID-19 economic rebuilding and to strengthen commitment and solidarity for long-term climate response.

o In his congratulatory remarks, Chairman of the National Council on Climate and Air Quality Ban Ki-moon called for solidarity among countries and the recovery of multilateralism in order to address global challenges such as COVID-19 and climate crisis. He went on to stress that all countries should propose concrete targets to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and welcomed the Korean government’s declaration to achieve carbon neutrality announced by President Moon Jae-in on December 10.

o The panelists shared the view that in the process of overcoming COVID-19 and climate change, it is necessary to establish governance that responds effectively by combining the efforts of the government and the public and private sector, that is, a system where all stakeholders make decisions and implement them with a sense of responsibility to achieve common goals. They emphasized that the P4G Summit in 2021 should serve as a forum for green recovery that affirms each government’s specific commitment to that end.

3. The Roundtable, held amid the growing interest at home and abroad in the direction of Korea’s green economic recovery following the Korean government’s declaration to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and announcement of the Green New Deal, served as an opportunity to present a message to the international community on the need for proactive innovation of the global response to climate crisis by turning it into an opportunity for inclusive and sustainable growth, as well as to raise the expectation that Korea would take the lead in green growth by hosting the P4G Summit in 2021.