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COP26: Forestry cooperation could speed up inter-Korea talks

2021-11-03 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

GLASGOW (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in made another overture towards North Korea at a United Nations climate summit on Monday (Nov 1), suggesting planting trees together to reduce carbon emissions on the Korean Peninsula and pledging to make good on a three-year-old promise in an apparent bid to re-engage Pyongyang.

"The Republic of Korea will take a leading role in cooperation for reforestation," Mr Moon said in his keynote speech at the 26th Conference of the Parties, or COP26, held in Glasgow, Scotland, calling tree planting one of the key solutions to climate change.

"We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the entire Korean Peninsula through forestry cooperation between South and North Korea."

The remarks were made when Mr Moon reported South Korea's tighter emissions goal in front of some 100 world leaders at the annual UN gathering. Last month, the government decided to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent from 2018 levels by 2030, a sharp departure from its previous goal of 26.3 per cent.

Forestry cooperation was one of the key commitments made during an inter-Korea summit held in Pyongyang in September 2018. Under the joint declaration, the two Koreas agreed to work together to protect and restore the peninsula's ecosystem, with combating deforestation being the top priority.

Four months later, the South Korean government set up a separate task force affiliated with the Korea Forest Service to carry out follow-up measures such as joint research on seedlings and disease prevention.

But the reconciliatory mood did not last long. Related projects were put on hold after the United States-North Korea summit in Hanoi in 2019 collapsed without an agreement on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes or lifting sanctions on the country.

Raising tensions further, Pyongyang blew up an inter-Korea liaison office last year in protest against the joint military drills between Seoul and Washington, cutting off all communications channels with the South unilaterally.

Mr Moon's renewed suggestion on forestry cooperation came amid the North's recent mixed signals of rapprochement and back-to-back missile tests.

After months of unresponsiveness, North Korea reopened the severed inter-Korea hotlines on July 27 and hinted at its intention to return to dialogue if certain conditions were met. (The hotlines were cut again briefly but were restored last month.)

It remains to be seen how North Korea will respond to the renewed offers of forestry cooperation. The North has been lukewarm on a series of proposals made by Mr Moon, such as humanitarian aid and a Covid-19 partnership.

South Korea and the US are pinning hopes on less sensitive issues to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, while North Korea has said sanctions relief is a precondition to resume talks.

Tackling deforestation is an urgent issue for North Korea. According to South Korea's National Institute of Forest Science, more than 70 per cent of the country's terrain is mountains and forests and about 30 per cent of that area is believed to be deforested.

During the extreme food crisis in the 1990s, people cut down trees for fuel or to cultivate cropland. After decades of excessive logging, the North suffers from severe damage from flooding every year. Despite regular tree-planting campaigns, deforestation continues, making the floods worse.

South Korea's Environment Minister Han Jeoung-ae, who is also in Glasgow, said that a possible forestry cooperation between the two Koreas would be a "win-win".

"Of the 40 per cent reduction goals, 5 per cent is set to be achieved through overseas projects with developing countries. If the North joins the projects and reduces carbon emissions, it would be a win-win for both Koreas."