<Founding Declaration>
The Earth is the only planet in the solar system that harbors life. It is the home where about 10 million species, including humans, are born, survive, and perish, and it is the shelter for their future descendants. Therefore, Earth is not the exclusive property of any species or generation but a common asset of all life that must be preserved intact and passed on to future generations. However, since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has endangered the Earth's ecosystem by using large amounts of fossil energy that causes climate change and environmental pollution in the process of maintaining and expanding civilization.
Along with this, nuclear power, whose serious risks have been confirmed by several major nuclear accidents, has been expanded in a way that passes radioactive waste on to future generations. Today's global average temperature rise, frequent abnormal weather, water resource depletion and sea level rise, air/water/soil pollution, and widespread radioactive accumulation in ecosystems are all consequences of the conveniences and arrogance of civilization. Nevertheless, humanity is trapped in a cycle where responding to climate change and environmental pollution caused by indiscriminate energy use requires consuming more energy and bearing greater risks.
The increase in energy use due to population growth, urbanization, and economic growth causes climate change; climate change causes water resource changes such as droughts or floods and food shortages; and water resource and food shortages demand the use of more energy, creating a vicious cycle. As warming and climate change increase the number of heat waves and cold snaps, we inevitably consume more energy. Only by reducing the absolute amount of energy used by humanity while transitioning from existing fossil energy and nuclear power to renewable energy can we break this vicious cycle and ensure the permanent and safe future of life on Earth.
Energy Transition Forum Korea is the country's first open platform in the energy transition field, formed by experts from various fields, civil society, industry, and the political sphere who put aside their affiliations, party memberships, fields, and interests to join forces in addressing the timely challenge of energy transition. Our forum will be centered on top experts in the fields of economics, environment, administration, policy, law, finance, engineering, and communication, along with civil society and industry, to propose various policies to the government and National Assembly, and will regularly provide an open forum for discussion where citizen participation and expression are guaranteed. Recognizing the impact that nuclear and fossil fuel-centered energy systems have on future generations and the global environment, we will perform various roles to promote and guide the transition of energy systems to energy conservation, efficiency improvement, and renewable energy. Furthermore, we will strive to expand public consensus on energy transition so that more citizens and the international community can fulfill their responsibilities and obligations as members of Earth's life community.
Our journey has just set sail, and the path ahead is long with rough waves. Although a rapid paradigm shift and innovation are occurring throughout the energy production, distribution, and consumption sectors worldwide, our country does not fully realize these changes from the periphery of this transformation. During the compressed economic growth process, we solidified an energy system centered on nuclear power and fossil energy, and even now, many policies, institutions, industries, and markets are formed and operated around these sources. Despite being a resource-poor country that imports about 95% of its energy, our long-standing low-price policy has led to the lowest levels of energy efficiency and renewable energy share among OECD countries.
On the other hand, the concentration of nuclear power plants and coal-fired power plants is among the highest in the world, and the industries supporting the economy are losing their domestic and international competitiveness while stuck in energy-intensive, low-efficiency quagmires. Energy Transition Forum Korea will steadfastly fulfill its role as a public interest corporation that serves as a watchdog to ensure that South Korea's energy industry, policy, and market overcome "path dependency" and do not succumb to past inertia, while also presenting various strategies to develop global competitiveness befitting the world's 11th largest economy. We will be the center of discussion where anyone from industry, academia, research, civil society, government, and politics can cooperate and consult to realize energy conservation, efficiency improvement, and continuous expansion of renewable energy.
Our forum will strive to narrow differences in thinking about energy transition, broaden consensus, minimize conflicts in the energy transition process, and derive optimal alternatives. We will also make every effort to provide objective information and highly reliable research results so that citizens, the most important stakeholders in energy transition, can make informed judgments. Energy Transition Forum Korea will continuously contemplate and push forward until energy transition becomes a major trend and mainstream discourse in our society, and our industry becomes a leader in the global market.
February 12, 2018
All Participants of the Inaugural General Assembly of Energy Transition Forum Korea
