SEOUL – South Korea will start carbon emission trading between 2013 and 2015 after strong opposition from industry to the government’s initial plan to start in 2013, a presidential secretary said on Monday.
The decision is a breakthrough for the country’s powerful export-led conglomerates which have been pushing for a delay given competitor nations such as Japan and the United States have delayed or shelved emissions trading schemes for now.
“It is no longer an issue whether or not the government would implement cap-and-trade systems. We aim to get parliamentary approval on the bill before its general session,” Kim Sang-hyup, a secretary to the President for green growth, told Reuters in a telephone interview. Parliament’s general session begins on Sept 1 each year.
