• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.5-26
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• 2018

Joseph S. Nye defined soft power as the power of attraction to affect the behavior of other states through the use of non-coercive instruments including culture, political values and foreign policy. Over the last two decades, environmental issues have grown in importance on the international agenda and become critical components of states' foreign policy-making. This paper aims to analyze environmental foreign policy as a soft power instrument focusing on two major rising powers: China and India. Traditionally, China and India had been reluctant to make any commitments in the field. However, they have shown greater willingness to act in global environmental governance in the past decade. They started playing more active roles in global climate change negotiations and supported a number of initiatives. Their current rise in global environmental governance has even been praised by the international community as the Paris agreement case demonstrated. This study evaluates China's and India's recent efforts in global environmental governance with a focus on climate change negotiations linking their constructive position to their soft power potential. It is argued that environmental issues are used by these two states as foreign policy strategy to gain more influence in international politics. This study finds out that China's climate-related environmental diplomacy has been more ambitious than that of India and thus has been closer to fulfill its potential as a soft power asset.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.181-195
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• 2018

On December 12, 2015, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Paris Agreement, in which several developed and developing countries all committed to participating in the reduction of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. South Korea has submitted an intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) proposal with a target to cut down 37% greenhouse gas business as usual (BAU) until 2030 in preparation for the 2030 GHG BAU. Under the post-2020 regime, which will be launched from 2021 as the agreement entered into force early, it is expected that efforts to support GHG reduction and adaptation to climate change in developing countries will be accelerated with the utilization of technologies and financial resources of developed countries. South Korea has established the Basic Plan for Climate Change Response and the Basic National Roadmap for Greenhouse Gas Reductions by 2030 to promote the response to climate change at the government level. The Ministry of Science and ICT, as the National Designated Entity designated by the UNFCCC, has come up with middle and long-term strategies for climate technology cooperation. South-Korea has an abundance of energy-consuming industries to support its export-oriented industrial structure; it is thus expected that achieving the GHG reduction target will incur a considerable cost. Moreover, in order to meet the reduction target (11.3%) of the intended nationally determined contribution proposed by South Korea, it is necessary for South Korea to actively promote projects that can achieve GHG reduction achievements, and financial resources are needed as leverage to reduce risks that can occur in the early stages of projects and attract private sector investment. This paper summarizes the theoretical discussions on climate finance and conducted a comparative analysis on the status of the funds related to climate change response in the UK, Germany, Japan and Denmark. Through this, we proposed the legal and policy tasks that should be carried forward to raise public funds that can be used for creation of new industries related to climate change as well as to reduce GHG emissions in South Korea. The Climate Change Countermeasures Act, which has been proposed by the National Assembly of South-Korea, stipulates the establishment of funds but there is no additional funding except for general account. In this regard, it is also possible to take measures such as the introduction of carbon tax or the collection and use of royalties through technology research and development projects for climate change, such as Industrial Technology Innovation Promotion Act. In addition, since funds are used in various fields such as domestic greenhouse gas reduction, technology development, and overseas projects, it is necessary to establish a system in which various ministries cooperate with the operation of the fund.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.23-44
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• 2013

Climate change affects human and natural environment. Many countries, including Korea, are trying to develop climate change adaptation strategies to minimize adverse impacts of climate change. To deal with climate change efficiently, decisions have to be made among many options. The objectives of this paper is to analyzes methodologies for prioritizing climate change adaptation measures. Each methodology has strength and weakness and information requirements are differ. We find multi-criteria analysis is one of useful tools considering current level of understanding on climate change adaptation. We suggest climate change risks(timing, likelihood, intensity of climate change impacts), feasibility of policy (equity, main-streaming, democracy), effectiveness (economic effectiveness, co-benefits, propagation effects) of adaptation measures as main evaluation criteria of prioritization.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.421-428
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• 2019

This study developed an evaluation system of adaptation countermeasures for climate change in the water resources sector using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the assessment procedures were applied to the Second Chungcheongnam-do Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plan (Chungnam Implementation Plan). Firstly, the evaluation criteria are composed of two levels according to the hierarchical structure, and AHP gives priority to 4 evaluation criteria of the first level and 16 alternative indicators of the second level. Secondly, after the importance of the evaluation criteria or indicators has been determined, the significance of each measure was evaluated by applying it to the water-sector measures of the Chungnam Implementation Plan, and the effectiveness of the evaluation system was validated. The Chungnam case study shows that the evaluation system will be more effective and efficient when it is applied during development phase rather than after the implementation plan is finalized. It is also expected that the evaluation system will be used to evaluate and prioritize climate change adaptation policies in other regions, and then to compare the means of adaptation to climate change in various regions and to select recommendation policies.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.273-301
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• 2023

This study investigates the impacts of long-term climate variability on household consumption in Indonesia, a country highly vulnerable to climate change. The analysis combines household survey data from nearly 5,998 families with satellite-derived weather data from NASA POWER spanning 30 years. We use the long-term variability in temperature and precipitation as a proxy for climate change. This study examines the impact of climate change which proceeds over the long term, unlike previous studies concerning one-off or short-term climate events. In addition, using satellite data enhances the accuracy of households' exposure to climate variability. The analysis finds that households in a village with higher temperature and precipitation variability significantly consume less food. This implies that households more exposed to climate change are at higher risk of malnutrition in developing countries. This study has a limitation that it cannot rule out the potential endogeneity of choosing a climate-vulnerable residential location due to economic poorness.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.305-323
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• 2008

Climate change is one of the broadest and the most complex issues of international environmental cooperation. Concern about climate change has been steadily increasing and has become a worldwide issue. According to IPCC(Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change)'s recently report, global warming has accelerated vest serious problems. GHG(Green House Gas) emissions trading schemes, including the Kyoto mechanism that spread to solving the problems. Based on the evaluation on GHG emissions trading schemes, we also find some policy implications on the future development of emissions trading the conventional air pollutants in Korea which start to 2007. The regulatory authority needs to make clear how to allocate allowances to new entrants and also to keep the balance between the opportunity costs of reduction between potential shutdown facilities and new entrants. Under the current rule that does not allow shutdown credits, an equivalent level of allowances needs to be allocated to new entrants free of charge. We believe our policy recommendations may be useful not only for Korea but also for a the other countries, since they are facing a similar policy environment as Korea, particularly in the case of climate change.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.528-542
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• 2013

This paper attempts to explain the energy policy to respond to climate change that is debated in recent years. Especially by the case of Germany among the developed countries, the study investigates the direction, strategy and measure of energy policy which are implemented at the national level. The Energy policy of Germany revealed through this study will provide implications for the establishment and propulsion of the energy policy trying to overcome the crisis of energy resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Korea. Firstly, this study reviews the major goal of German government's recent energy policy, and secondly discusses the various strategies and means of policy to achieve the main directions of Germany's energy policy.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.347-357
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• 2009

This study conducted a vulnerability assessment on Korea's physical infrastructure to provide base data for developing strategies to strengthen Korea's ability to adapt to climate change. The assessment was conducted by surveying professionals in the field of infrastructure and climate change science. A vulnerability assessment was carried out for seven climate change events: average temperature increases, sea level rise, typhoons and storm surges, floods and heavy rain, drought, severe cold, and heat waves. The survey asked respondents questions with respect to the consequences of each climate change event, the urgency of adaptation to climate change, and the scale of investment for adaptation to each climate change event. Thereafter, management priorities for infrastructure were devised and implications for policy development were suggested. The results showed that respondents expected the possibility of "typhoons and storm surges" and "floods and heavy rain" to be the most high. Respondents indicated that infrastructure related to water, transportation, and the built environment were more vulnerable to climate change. The most vulnerable facilities included river related facilities such as dams and riverbanks in the "water" category and seaports and roads in the "transport and communication" category. The results found were consistent with the history of natural disasters in Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.267-272
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine effect of anxiety about climate change on life satisfaction and mediating effect of subjective health status between anxiety about climate change and life satisfaction among older persons. Methods: This study used data from Statistics Korea 2018 Social Survey and a total of 7,870 older persons aged 65 and over were selected for the analyses. Descriptive statistics was used to identify characteristics of study participants and correlation analysis was used to examine the associations among anxiety about climate change, subjective health status, and life satisfaction. Also, multiple regression analyses were performed to examine effect of anxiety about climate change on life satisfaction and mediating effect of subjective health status between anxiety about climate change and life satisfaction. Results: Study findings show that anxiety about climate change had significant effect on life satisfaction. A higher level of anxiety decreased the level of life satisfaction of the elderly. A higher level of anxiety about climate change also decreased the level of subjective health status. In addition, the effect of anxiety about climate change on life satisfaction was partially mediated by subjective health status. Conclusions: Findings of the study suggest that the needs of older population should be considered in designing policy and interventions on climate change.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.539-546
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to suggest policy implications for the development of climate change plan in city scale. For a comparative case study, Changwon city in Korea and Portland city in U.S.A. were chosen. Climate change plans of both cities were analysed and compared in the perspectives of framework, climate strategies, and implementation. The findings from the comparative case study are suggested for policy implications as the followings. Firstly, the framework should be more simple and clearly integrated from goal to action plans. Secondly, more caution must be exercised for the major GHG triggers and adaptation policy measures. Finally, establishment of clear timeline is the first step of leadership in climate change plan. Coordination agencies and sustainable assessment systems for monitoring each policies are essential for the successful implementation of climate change plan.