President Moon Jae-in on Sept. 7 gave a congratulatory speech in a video marking the second annual International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, urging a massive shift in socioeconomic structure for blue skies.
He added that the government will lead the shift toward a low-carbon economy and actively support the efforts of people and corporations to that end.
The government will also double the scale of facilities for solar and wind power generation by 2025.
The chief executive said the goal of Green New Deal is carbon neutrality and pledged to further boost the potential of new and renewable energy through technological innovation. Within this year, he added, the plan to achieve the 2050 carbon-neutral scenario will be finalized and announced.
This year marks the second Blue Sky Day, which in 2019 became the first commemorative day proposed by the Korean government to earn official designation from the United Nations and the Korean government. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) set the theme of this year's day as "Healthy Air, Healthy Planet."
The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held official ceremonies and international forums to mark the occasion, as well as hosting-related public events running on the day and holding song contests.
UNEP on Sept. 7 will hold a commemorative ceremony at U.N. headquarters in New York, with the program's executive director Inger Andersen to also chair a high-level meeting at her agency's headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
Jeong Eunhae, director-general of the National Institute of Environment Research in Incheon, will also brief the meeting on the Korean government's policy toward improving air quality.
