This session “Green New Deal: Clean Transition to Green Economy” is jointly organised by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The session aims to provide a forum to highlight countries’ green recovery policies, GCF’s support for the transition, and to discuss how public and private partnerships can further accelerate global action against climate change and carbon emissions.

The interlinkages between people, planet and prosperity have never clearer than they are today, as the far-reaching implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are a stark reminder of the urgent need for climate action. As countries undertake unprecedented stimulus measures to revive economies in response to the pandemic, there is an opportunity to create the paradigm shift needed towards low emission, climate-resilient growth for all. Many countries including Korea have set carbon neutral goals, making climate change a key issue in economic and social policies and investment decision making. These net-zero targets have put the Paris Agreement’s goals within striking distance.

Rapid decarbonization will have an overall net benefit - the total value of the net zero economy is estimated at $2.3 trillion - but also significant distributional trade-offs. The financial system has a pivotal role to play in accelerating the transition to a net zero economy, mitigating climate physical and transition risks, seizing the opportunities that emerge from the economic transformation and ensuring a just transition – a precondition to a fast transition.