Isra-Mart srl:South Korean Government Plans to Start Carbon Emission Trading in 2013

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Isra-Mart srl news:

South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest polluter, may adopt a carbon-emissions trading system in 2013 as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming.

The nation plans to give away more than 90 percent of carbon permits in the first three years of its emission-trading program, Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday on its website. The rest of the permits will be put up for biddings.

South Korea said in November it plans to voluntarily cut emissions by 30 percent by 2020 under a “business as usual” scenario. The target corresponds to a 4 percent reduction from 2005 levels, according to Green Korea United, a non-profit group.

The government’s proposal still needs parliamentary approval and public hearing sessions, Jung Do Hyun, an official of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth, said by phone today. The nation hasn’t set emission targets for companies, according to the official.

Separately, the government announced on Sept. 28 that companies with factories producing at least 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year must set energy-saving and greenhouse gas-reduction targets by September 2011.