Source: https://keia.org/the-peninsula/south-koreas-efforts-to-adapt-to-the-impact-of-climate-change/

South Korea’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement sets a target of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40 percent by 2030 (relative to their peak in 2018). Korea also aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (Figure 1, Panel A). The targets are ambitious, as Korea was the world’s thirteenth-largest GHG emitter in 2023. On a per-capita basis, emissions also peaked in 2018 (Panel B)—the fifth-highest among OECD countries, reflecting the important role of energy-intensive industries such as petrochemicals, iron, and steel in the Korean economy. Although the energy supply per unit of GDP has fallen by about 30 percent since 2000, Korea is the third most energy-intensive economy in the OECD.