Jump to main content.

South Korea


History and Objectives

The IES-South Korea program, initiated in February 1999, is a collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Environment, the Korean Environment Institute (KEI), and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). The objective of the program is to assess and quantify the environmental and public health benefits resulting from integrated measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and local air pollution. The program enhances in-country capacity to conduct co-benefits analysis and assists with policy evaluation for integrated planning.

Two IES-Korea projects have been conducted to date, and a third project is in planning stages.The first project applied a bottom-up impact analysis approach to evaluate the benefits from integrated mitigation policies and measures in the metropolitan area of Seoul, Korea. The second project evaluated the health and GHG impacts from the Seoul Air Quality Management Plan, and compared them with the expected health and GHG impacts  from selected GHG reduction measures. Results from the second IES-South Korea project will be released in early 2008.

Top of Page

Team

The lead institution for IES work in Korea is the Korea Environment Institute (KEI), which is a government-funded research institute affiliated with the Office of the Prime Minister.

For the first phase of the project, which was completed in 2001, the principal investigator, Dr. Seunghun Joh, led work on energy and mitigation scenarios for the project. Professor Joohon Sung of Kangwon National University led the air pollution health effects work; Professor Young Chul Shin of Daejin University conducted the economic valuation; and Dr. Shang-Gyoo Shim of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) headed the air quality modeling portion of the project.

The principal investigators for the second phase, completed in 2007, were Dr. Jeongim Park and Dr. Yeora Chae of KEI. Dr. Yong-Gun Kim of KEI led the energy and policy analyses; Dr. Sung-Woo Jeon of KEI led the emissions analysis; Dr. Nankyoung Moon of KEI led the air quality analysis; Dr. Jeongim Park led the health effects analysis; and Professor Young Chul Shin of Daejin University conducted the economic valuation and cost-benefit analyses. In addition, Dr. Sang In Kang of KEI served as a project advisor.

Top of Page


Methodology

The initial phase (1999-2001) of the IES project focused on estimating and assessing health benefits based on air quality improvements and a modest associated GHG reduction (5 to 15 percent GHG reductions from the baseline by 2020) measures in the Seoul metropolitan area. The initial mitigation measures considered were derived for Seoul from a report by the Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE). These no- or low-cost measures primarily focused on energy efficiency and use of compressed natural gas for vehicles. This study utilized directly emitted particulate matter (PM10) as the indicator pollutant, which Korean researchers estimate would lead to about 50% of total air pollution health impacts in Seoul.

Top of Page


Study Results

The final assessment (PDF) (179 pp, 4.6MB, About PDF) of the first phase of work, released in mid-2001, found that implementing integrated measures in Seoul between 2000 and 2020 would result in cumulative health benefits of up to $1.03 billion (U.S. $1999), a significant figure when considering the very low costs of the mitigation measures examined. The assessment also estimated that these integrated measures for Korea’s energy sector could avoid 40 to 120 premature deaths and 2,800 to 8,400 cases of asthma and other respiratory diseases in 2020 alone. The values are considered conservative due to limitations in the study, which tended to underestimate benefits, since it only accounted for benefits resulting from reductions in PM10.

Top of Page


Meetings and Presentations

The IES-South Korea team has presented results of the initial study at multiple venues. In March 2000, Korean researchers presented these results in an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Expert Workshop on Assessing the Ancillary Benefits and Costs of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Strategies in Washington, D.C. In September 2000, the team issued a final project report that covered a discussion of the methodology employed, scenarios developed, air quality analysis, health impacts analysis, and valuation and a summary of the outcome of the policymakers’ meeting.

In October 2000, leaders conducted a policymaker review workshop in Seoul, and in December 2000, the team issued a final synthesis report of the project. Korea also participated in a side-event on IES at the Sixth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP6) in November 2000. The team presented a review of the project and a detailed summary of the air quality analysis model and results for the project at the Air & Waste Management Association’s International Urban Infrastructure Forum in June 2001.

In September 2001, the team gave a presentation on the program at the annual meeting of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE). Articles on the IES program and the results for Korea were published in an ISEE book as well as the Asian Environmental Newsletter.

South Korea also participated in EPA’s IES Program Workshop on International Air Pollution and Energy/Climate Policy Collaboration, conducted as part of the 14th Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiologists, held in Vancouver, Canada, in August 2002. In November 2002, South Korea presented at EPA’s and China’s Energy Research Institute–sponsored Economic and Environmental Modeling Workshop in Beijing and at the Ministry-of-Environment–sponsored Policymakers Workshop in Seoul.

In 2003, South Korea participated in EPA’s IES Program’s 3rd Annual Forum on Air Pollution and Public Health: Symposium Topic: Socio-Economic Factors and Air Pollution Health Effects, in Perth, Australia, as well as the 2003 Better Air Quality for Asian Cities Conference, where it presented "Carbon Tax Versus Air Pollution Tax: Which Is More Effective in Controlling Air Pollution and Climate Change in Korean Context?”

Top of Page


Outcomes

IES work has inspired increased interest in integrated strategies among researchers and policymakers in Korea. Government officials from MOCIE, MOE, and the Korean legislature attended the policymakers' workshop and reached a consensus that the results of this project were very useful for policymaking for both air quality management at the local level and associated GHG mitigation at the national level. Government officials noted that the project demonstrated the potential for real, positive economic and social benefits from mitigation scenarios and commended the project’s efforts to provide these estimates. Policymakers also saw the potential to use results from the study to develop cost-effective integrated strategies to address both local air quality and associated GHG emissions.

Based on initial interest in results from the Seoul IES study, MOE funded KEI to conduct a national-level study using the IES methodology developed by the initial project for Seoul. A report of the results from this study was released in July 2001. The national study concluded that more than two-thirds of the costs of reducing carbon emissions by 10 percent in 2010 would be offset by health co-benefits and result in substantial local and global environmental benefits. The national study generated much interest and lively debate within the Korean policy community.

MOE designated air quality as its priority theme for 2002. Air quality has become an important issue in Korea, and the government has begun to take remedial action. The arrival of the World Cup soccer matches in summer 2002 further prompted the government to improve air quality. Korea’s largest environmental nongovernmental organization - the Korea Federation of Environmental Movements - launched a national public outreach campaign on air quality. A major Korean daily newspaper was a partner in the campaign and published 24 articles on air quality, sometimes drawing a link to climate policy. The IES-South Korea principal investigator was a member of the campaign’s steering committee and participated in a national seminar under the campaign where he presented results from the IES study in April 2002.

The second phase of IES-South Korea began in 2003, and was completed in 2007. This phase of research focused on a comprehensive set of air pollution and GHG reduction measures for the Seoul metropolitan area. Its objective was to inform the Korean public and policymakers, as well as the research community, of the IES methodology and results. Specific goals included:

Results from this phase of research will be released in late 2007.

Top of Page


Documents

Contains documents generated through the IES-South Korea analysis.

Top of Page


Korea Environment Institute (KEI) Exit EPA Disclaimer KEI, a government-funded research institution founded in 1991 by the South Korean government, seeks to research and develop environmental policies and technology; professionally assess environmental impact statements; and contribute to the prevention and resolution of environmental problems. This institute is the lead in-country partner for the IES-South Korea effort.

Integrated Environmental Strategies-South Korea Exit EPA Disclaimer
This Web site, in Korean, describes the IES-South Korea program.

Top of Page

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.