Letters | China, Japan or South Korea, who will pull ahead in race to carbon neutrality in East Asia?

The year 2020 may be remembered as when the three major economies in East Asia started to show leadership in climate action. The possible presidency of Joe Biden make the picture clearer on global action to mitigate climate change, including better cooperation between East Asia and the United States.

Between September and October, three East Asian countries one after another announced plans to achieve carbon neutrality, by 2050 for Japan and South Korea, and before 2060 for China. These pledges were greatly welcomed by the world.

The global average temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial period and we are already facing the dire consequences of global warming. East Asia is not an exception. This year, all three nations have suffered from record-breaking rains and floods, with hundreds of casualties and millions of people displaced.

Every country has common but differentiated responsibilities, depending on their contributions to climate change. Together, the three East Asian G20 members contributed 33 per cent of global carbon emissions in 2018, with most of it coming from China.

Due to the geographical proximity of China, the largest carbon emitter, people tend to underestimate the impact on global climate from Japan and South Korea, the only two Asian members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. In fact, Japan is the fifth and South Korea the seventh largest carbon emitter in the world.  The sum of carbon emissions of the two neighbours is almost equivalent to that of Africa and Oceania.

Without doubt, reaching carbon neutrality for China, Japan and South Korea is full of unprecedented challenges. The share of fossil fuels in the total energy supply for the three countries is close to 90 per cent. There are more than 376 million vehicles in the three countries and the share of electric vehicles is still less than 1 per cent.