South Korea's annual greenhouse gas emissions fell below 700 million tons last year for the first time since 2010, thanks to an increased share of nuclear and renewable energy generation, the environment ministry reported on Wednesday.
The ministry said last year's national greenhouse gas emissions were provisionally calculated at 691.58 million tons. National greenhouse gas emissions data take about two years to finalize so provisional figures are released first, with the gap being around 0.3 to 0.4 percent, News.Az reports citing Yonhap.
Last year's provisional figure is the lowest level since 721.6 million tons in 2011 and represents a 2 percent decrease from the 2023 estimate of 705 million tons, the ministry noted. The government's aim to cut national greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared with the 2018 levels has also been actually achieved.
The reason for the decreased greenhouse gas emissions last year is that the nation used less coal and more nuclear and renewable energy to produce electricity. In other sectors, however, there were no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
