How South Korea ’s 2035 NDC can drive private sector action and investment

The document advocates for South Korea to set a 2035 emissions reduction target of at least 61% relative to 2018 levels to ensure alignment with its 2050 carbon neutrality goal. It emphasizes that a credible NDC must be supported by sectoral pathways in power, industry, and transport to provide the policy certainty required to unlock private sector investment. Key recommendations include phasing out coal power by 2035, reforming the Korea Emissions Trading System (K-ETS) to increase carbon price signals, and accelerating the deployment of breakthrough technologies like hydrogen steelmaking and electrified steam crackers. The briefing also stresses the importance of structured collaboration between the government, businesses of all sizes, and subnational authorities to ensure the NDC is investible and implementable.

• To align with a net-zero pathway by 2050, South Korea should target an emissions reduction of at least 61% by 2035 relative to 2018 levels.
• The power sector requires significant acceleration in renewable capacity, specifically reaching at least 100GW by 2030 and 200GW by 2035, alongside a coal phase-out brought forward to 2035.
• Industrial decarbonization is hindered by low carbon prices and policy inconsistency; average 2024 K-ETS prices were approximately KRW 9,200 (≈ USD 7), which is insufficient to make technologies like hydrogen steelmaking commercially viable.
• South Korea lags behind international peers in petrochemicals, specifically in decarbonizing the naphtha cracking process, which accounts for over 70% of the sector's emissions.
• The transportation sector's current fuel economy and GHG emissions standards for 2030 are insufficient to meet the 2030 NDC goals, which would require a target of 45 g/km compared to the current 70 g/km target.
• A 2024 Constitutional Court ruling has established that the government's 2030 NDC was insufficient to protect citizens' rights, making a stronger 2035 NDC a legal obligation.

APA

We Mean Business Coalition (2025). How South Korea ’s 2035 NDC can drive private sector action and investment. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SFOC-WMBC-South-Korea-NDC-note_final.pdf

Chicago

We Mean Business Coalition. How South Korea ’s 2035 NDC can drive private sector action and investment. 2025. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SFOC-WMBC-South-Korea-NDC-note_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=We Mean Business Coalition |title=How South Korea ’s 2035 NDC can drive private sector action and investment |date=October 2025 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SFOC-WMBC-South-Korea-NDC-note_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wemeanbusinesscoalition2025how, author = {{We Mean Business Coalition}}, title = {{How South Korea ’s 2035 NDC can drive private sector action and investment}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SFOC-WMBC-South-Korea-NDC-note_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }