The Green Growth Movement in the Republic of Korea: Option or Necessity?

To achieve the new national development vision, Korean leadership took a strategic approach in which the government played an active role, similar to the visionary approach used to achieve rapid economic development in the 1960s and 1970s. The government established a legal framework on low carbon and green growth, set up a governance structure to implement green growth initiatives systematically, and established fiscal policies and budget resources to support the initiatives firmly. The purpose of this note is primarily to explain why Korea adopted a green growth strategy as a new national development paradigm and how it was implemented by the government. Section one gives overview; section two illustrates why green growth was a necessity in Korea; section three describes how green growth was implemented by the Korean government, particularly with respect to institutional arrangements and fiscal adjustments for green growth; section four presents the key outcomes thus far; and section five identifies lessons that can be applied in other countries.