The President said on December 17 (Copenhagen time) that Korea would establish a global institute to tackle climate change within the first half of 2010 in his keynote speech at the 15th UN Climate Change Conference in Denmark.
The global institute, tentatively named “Global Green Growth Institute” (GGGI) will bring together scholars, scientists and civil society leaders from around the world to come up with workable solutions to climate change problems, according to President Lee.
The President also said during his speech titled “Taking Action Together,” that every country should join hands to make a real difference in efforts to fight global climate change.
The President stressed that the question of “how to” reduce greenhouse gas emissions is as important as that of “how much” they should be reduced. President Lee went on to say that Korea was investing 2 percent of its GDP annually into research and development of new green technologies and eco-friendly infrastructure under the national vision of “Low Carbon Green Growth.”
During the speech, President Lee officially announced Korea's bid to host the 18th UN Climate Change Conference in 2012. “Korea is ready to contribute to opening up the post-2012 regime by hosting the COP18 in 2012,” President Lee said. The year 2012 is when the Kyoto Protocol expires. The 18th conference is supposed to take place in an Asian country and so far Qatar and Korea have announced their bids to play host. The final decision will be announced at the 16th conference in Mexico in late 2010.
