16th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM16), Busan
25th August • 14:15-15:15 (Local Time)
Room 203+204, BEXCO Exhibition Centre, 55 APEC-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea
In 2024, fossil fuels accounted for 60% of South Korea’s electricity mix, with coal comprising more than half of that. The country’s industrial base, while critical to its economic success, is heavily reliant on carbon-intensive power generation. Across the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, coal remains a significant part of the energy mix, accounting for around 40% of electricity generation. Addressing this dependence is vital to meeting global climate goals and maintaining countries’ competitiveness in a decarbonising world.
Meanwhile, global momentum is building around accelerating the shift from coal to clean energy, as demonstrated by the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) and the Coal Transition Commission (CTC), as well as the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs). These initiatives showcase how finance and policy can enable earlier coal phase-outs while supporting economic and social resilience.
Solutions For Our Climate (SFOC) research shows that a Paris-aligned coal phase-out in South Korea by 2030 is technically and economically feasible, but requires targeted investment and policy clarity. As the global clean energy economy expands, South Korea, much like the rest of the region, has an opportunity to drive its economic growth and create new jobs by scaling up renewables, supporting industrial decarbonisation, and ensuring vulnerable communities are not left behind.
This event will explore the regulatory, planning, and investment frameworks needed to accelerate South Korea’s, and the broader region’s, coal-to-clean energy transition. It will highlight examples of successful transition pathways from across the world, showcasing how governments have reformed electricity markets, scaled renewables, and supported workers and communities through inclusive and just transition policies.
Discussion will focus on:
- The political and policy levers that can facilitate a shift away from coal while safeguarding energy security and industrial competitiveness.
- Lessons from countries that have successfully transitioned state-owned utilities and mobilised domestic resources to scale up renewables.
- Insights into how early transition planning can strengthen the competitiveness of industrial sectors, especially manufacturing, by enabling access to cheaper, cleaner electricity.
- Strategies to ensure that workers and communities benefit from the transition, including job creation, social dialogue, and retraining initiatives, with best practices from PPCA members.
Agenda
Welcome Remarks and Announcements
- Xavier Daignault-Simard, Senior Director, Strategic Energy Policy Division, Natural Resources Canada
- Gareth Weir, Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy Seoul
Keynotes
- Jungho Kim, Republic of Korea National Assembly Member
- Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella, Department of Energy, Philippines
Panel Discussion: The enabling policy environment for coal transition
- Rosalinde Van Der Vlies, Director for Just Transition, Consumers, Efficiency and Innovation, European Commission
- Sam Kimmins, Director of Energy, RE100
- Yuki Yasui, Managing Director, Asia Pacific Network, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)
Closing Remarks
- Selwin Hart, Special Adviser and Assistant Secretary General for Climate Change
