A South Korean expert on green growth has been named to lead the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), an international organization on sustainable growth for developing and emerging countries, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

A special GGGI committee selected Kim Sang-hyup, co-chair of the 2050 Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth, as the next director general of the Seoul-based organization for a four-year term starting Jan. 1, 2025, the ministry said in a release.

The decision was approved by the GGGI Council following a selection process that involved 80 candidates, including Kim, the ministry said.

Kim is the first South Korean to be taking the helm of the GGGI, a treaty-based intergovernmental organization responsible for promoting carbon neutrality and related policies, as well as providing necessary assistance in financing, for developing countries.

Kim, currently also a vice president for sustainable growth at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
is known for his key roles in crafting South Korea’s green growth strategies under the former government of President Lee Myung-bak, including the establishment of the GGGI in 2012.

Kim also led the launch of the nationwide Korea Emissions Trading Scheme in 2015 to facilitate efforts toward the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.

“We expect Kim to contribute to solidifying GGGI’s role and status as a key international organization supporting the international community’s inclusive green growth and climate change response,” the ministry said.

“We will work to further strengthen the government’s role as a ‘green ladder’ through collaboration with GGGI in the future,” it said.

As of August 2024, the GGGI had various green growth projects under way in 51 countries, with South Korea, Norway, New Zealand, Denmark and a few others being key financial providers among the 48 member states.

Source: Yonhap News Agency