Part 1. Vocabulary
|
bill |
/bil/ n. - draft
of a proposed law presented to parliament for discussion: [ proposed
legislation] §
"a debate over the civil
rights bill" |
|
codify |
/ˈkädəˌfī/ v. - to arrange
information in a logical order that others can follow. §
Legislators may try to codify or gather and
organize, all laws related to a particular issue. |
|
enactment |
/inˈak(t)mənt
n. - the process
of passing legislation: [making law] §
"The enactment of equal pay
legislation" |
|
mandate |
/ˈmanˌdāt/ n. - an official
order or commission to do something: §
"a mandate to seek the release
of political prisoners" |
|
neutrality |
/n(y)o͞oˈtralədē/n. - the state
of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; [neutral
position] impartiality: §
"during the war, Switzerland maintained
its neutrality" |
South Korea's parliament has passed a bill mandating over a
35 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to eventually achieve carbon
neutrality by 2050.
The National Assembly passed the so-called "climate crisis response"
act Tuesday night at a general voting session, becoming the 14th country in the
world to codify, through legislation, a national vision to achieve net-zero
carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 and its implementation requirements.
The enactment comes in line with President Moon Jae-in's reaffirmation of his
commitment to carbon neutrality during the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit held in May.
The government has also earmarked 12 trillion won (US$10.3 billion) as the
budget to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the 2022 state budget plan to be submitted
to the assembly on Friday.
The legislation stipulates cutting carbon emissions by at least 35 percent by
2030, compared with the 2018 level, as a mid-term goal of the nationally
determined contributions (NDC), a non-binding national gas emission reduction
pledge.
The 35-percent reduction target is 9 percentage points higher than what the country had previously pledged.
Opposition parties, including the People Power Party, initially demanded the
bill mandate a gas emission reduction of 50 percent or more to comply with
relevant international standards, but the ruling Democratic Party put the
reduction goal at 35 percent, claiming the bill should carefully set the balance between the burdens of implementation on corporate entities and the
feasibility of a reduction target.
The climate crisis response act also requires the government to set specific
reduction goals for each year and each industrial sector in consideration of
their impact on the national energy policy and finance.
Under the new law, the country's special presidential panel on carbon neutrality,
established in May, will also be upgraded into a stand-alone committee with a
legal basis. (Yonhap)