[Kim Hang-seok’s ‘Us in the end’]

Climate crisis. Until recently, this was an expression that was referred to as climate change. At some point, it was upgraded to a climate crisis. Looking at the words that express the increasingly difficult climate problem, we can see how much we have neglected this big problem. In the 1990s, scientists called it global warming and raised issues such as the Earth's warming average temperature, sea ice, and rising sea levels. However, because the expression ‘global warming’ caused a ‘sense of fear’, the political world (starting with the United States and spreading to many countries) sought a milder expression, and that is climate change.

‘Peasley’. It's a word I've never heard before. It sounds like the name of a snack or a board game. Far from being about delicious food and fun games, ‘Pizzly’ is a very sad word and reality. ‘Peasley’ shows the dark side of nature caused by the climate crisis. ‘Pizzly’ is a word created by combining the words polar bear and grizzly bear.

I remember seeing articles about 30 years ago predicting that we would live in a world where people would have to buy air in the future, saying, “In the future, we will buy water at stores.” It was an article that came out with an interesting illustration comparing Bong to Kim Seon-dal selling drinking water and air. As time goes by, spending money on water and air has become a reality. The domestic water purifier penetration rate is said to be 60%, and the bottled water market is expected to grow to 2 trillion won annually. The air purifier market is already worth more than 1 trillion won, so the stories written by Bongi Kim Seon-dal's illustrated articles are 100% correct.

It is said that even if you can only know what will happen in the very near future, say 10 minutes from now, you can accumulate a lot of wealth. For example, it is thought to be possible in areas such as stocks and exchange rates, and there are many novels and movies on this topic. However, there is something new that moves in these 10-minute increments. No, it's not new, but things that used to indirectly affect our lives are now directly used and affected. It is a weather forecast. 

I have been doing tree work in Vietnam for the past two weeks. Since 2018, we have been carrying out mangrove tree planting activities in an area called Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam, with donations and cooperation from SK Innovation. When I talk about climate change, what I always talk about is the actions and responsibilities that ‘ultimately’ we must take. There are many roles that an individual can play, one of which is tree work. Each person's role may be small when viewed individually, but if we all work together, we can leave the Earth we enjoy in a better condition to the next generation.

People generate carbon as they live. There are many differences between humans and animals and plants, but the biggest difference is that plants absorb carbon, while humans and animals emit carbon. Humans generate more carbon than other living things, and the total amount of carbon dioxide generated in all processes, including human activities and product production and consumption, is called the carbon footprint. What we need to do now is to erase these footprints and create fewer footprints. This is the beginning of carbon reduction and carbon neutrality.

It is a world where absolute truth has been lost. Depending on your worldview, you may have different thoughts about whether absolute truth is necessary, but one thing is certain: absolute truth will disappear and everyone will live by their own standards. It is not my intention to deny the individuality of ‘gaechwi’. There is no reason why everyone likes red. However, I would like to express my concern about the fact that the truth about climate change is being ignored, abused, or misunderstood due to different ideological, economic, and political viewpoints.

Digital carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gases generated when we use digital devices in our daily lives. It is the amount of direct and indirect use of digital devices that we use in our lives. For example, carbon is generated in the entire process of using devices, such as charging electronic devices, using the Internet, data consumption, and standby power, and this is the carbon footprint.

They tried to increase marriage and birth rates by implementing astronomical budget support policies to encourage marriage and childbirth and support childcare, but all previous administrations failed. Improving people's perceptions and changing their behavior is a very difficult task. A similar phenomenon is occurring with climate change.

Recently, there have been many issues in the voluntary carbon emissions market. This is a case where integrity has been broken, and these are cases where carbon emission credits were certified in the field of forest protection in cases where activities such as forest protection were not effective in reducing carbon emissions. A carbon reduction project must have additionality, but even without the relevant emission permit project, this was a case in which a forest protection project was applied for in a forest protection project where there were no plans for logging, etc. as it was already a forest protection area, and carbon emissions credits for the project were certified.

Mangrove forests provide us with not only beautiful natural scenery but also amazing biodiversity. The cycle of life that occurs here is a treasure trove of nature, showing how various living things help each other and live together.

I run KCCTS, a company specializing in overseas carbon reduction projects. We are also carrying out other projects, one of which is Dream Sharing, a public interest corporation. One of Dream Sharing's projects is reading promotion, and according to the Reading Promotion Act, reading promotion means cultivating reading and writing skills. In other words, the goal of reading promotion is to improve reading and writing skills.

A/B testing is commonly performed in processes such as software development or game design. This is a method of determining the most effective choice by eliminating those with a low probability of success among several options and conducting a test on the last two remaining strong options. However, there is no guarantee that this final choice is necessarily the best choice. This methodology plays an important role in minimizing losses due to decision delays.

Greenwashing refers to the hypocritical act of appearing to pursue carbon neutrality on the outside, but actually failing to properly implement the four steps of carbon neutrality. The first step is ‘measurement’, which is the process of determining all the carbon emissions a company emits. This measures emissions across Scope 1, which is the company's own emissions; Scope 2, which is the energy sources it uses; and Scope 3, which includes the services it uses and the carbon content of its supply chain. Currently, most companies only measure scopes 1 and 2.

At present, various solutions to climate change are being discussed. Numerous technologies and strategies are presented, but putting them into practice requires dedication from all of us. The most direct solution is to reduce the carbon we produce. Of course, there are many solutions through various technological developments rather than our unilateral sacrifice.

If I were to give this column a subtitle, it would be ‘Social Inequality in the Climate Crisis.’ The term ‘climate justice’ has already come to us as a symbol of inequality in the era of climate crisis. By exploring these topics through the movie ‘In Time’, we can clearly understand what kind of threat the climate crisis poses to the socially disadvantaged.

After the adoption of the Paris Agreement, a new phase began. With 193 countries around the world declaring their goal of carbon neutrality, international interest in national greenhouse gas reduction goals (Nationally Determined Contributions, NDC) has increased. Korea has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, a goal it hopes to achieve through domestic energy transition and industry-specific efforts.