Moment in History for “Green Revolution

The evolution of human civilization, with the three revolutions, has given the humankind a power that far exceeded its expectation. What we are seeing now is the humankind putting itself under a fatal threat by the act of its own. The threat is the kind that the humankind has never experienced before, in scale and in magnitude.




Of course, the threat is the anthropogenic climate change. What IPCC scientists have advised us on this matter is clear: they are almost sure climate change is manmade; the pace is faster than they previously expected; and the consequences are direr than they previously estimated. We have to listen to their voices.



The world is now witnessing the adverse impacts of climate change on global environment, and the Korean Peninsula is not the exception. The Korea Meteorological Administration announced that the Korean Peninsula has undergone a temperature rise of 1.7 degree Celsius for the past 100 years. The areas for cultivation of major crops are moving up north, and the catch of fish is no longer that of the past. The walleye pollock, which had been the most popular fish in the East Sea of the Korean Peninsula is no longer observed, and the void is now filled with tones of jellyfish and other exotic tropical fish species rarely seen in Korea in the past. Obviously the environment is changing, and it is changing rapidly. We must act now.



Arnold Toynbee depicted humankind’s history as the history of responses to the challenges. Global climate change is a huge challenge to the human civilization, and it has to be met with a commensurately huge response. And we need heroes – heroes to meet with this challenge and bring about the new revolution.



Copenhagen in coming December is a unique moment and place in history where the heroes and heroines of the world gather together to meet with this historical challenge of the world. The humankind has to come up with a challenging commitment to save itself as one unity of global citizens.



We need political heroes. They have to convince their people that bold actions are needed and some level of sacrifice is unavoidable so that we can get to a better place with new level of prosperity.



We need science and technology heroes. They have to come up with new innovative ways of producing energy and consuming it efficiently, and their efforts will be met with due respect and compensation.



We need business heroes. They will bring about business innovations to move forward to a green economy. If the international targets and rules have been set, they are the leaders of this global history.



Indeed, we need heroes everywhere. Every person at every corner of the planet has to be part of this global “Green Crusade.”



Korean government last year has initiated the nationwide campaign called “GreenStart Campaign.” It invites all members of our country to be part of this global effort. It helped greatly to enhance people’s awareness of the problem and willingness to participate in solving the problem.



“GreenStart Campaign” is just one aspect of Korea’s efforts for green revolution. The Korean government has adopted “Low-Carbon Green Growth” as the leading national agenda for the coming decades. A large portion of government spending will be put into green technologies and industries to move into green economy, and now business is responding to this national agenda with announcement of huge scale investment plans on green businesses.



Korea holds a rather unique position in the global scene. It was completely ruined by the Korean War (1950-1953). However, it rose again through the diligence of its people and with help of international society, and now Korea is an OECD member country and its economy is relatively strong and still growing.



With this historical background, Korea is now poised to be part of this global endeavor, and will try to play the bridging role between developed and developing countries. With its strong technological driving force, Korea will also try to be a solution provider and innovation creator.



There is a saying in traditional Korean medicine that an illness is an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and make amendments to our way of life. Climate change is a serious illness to the planet and to the human civilization. Fortunately, it is relatively in the early stage and we still have chances to correct it. Maybe climate change is an opportunity given to humankind to reflect on its civilization and redirect the course of evolution.



Once again, Copenhagen is a unique place and moment in history for the humankind to initiate the fourth revolution, “the Green Revolution.” I invite you to be part of it.