The United States and the Republic of Korea Hold Public-Private Dialogue between the U.S. Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI) and Korea’s Carbon-Free (CF) Alliance

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Kyu Bang led the U.S.-Korea Clean Energy Business Roundtable held on the sidelines of the APEC Leaders’ Summit on November 16.  Building upon the 70-year alliance between the two nations, the Clean Energy Business Roundtable discussed opportunities to strengthen and renew our mutually beneficial clean energy cooperation.  Prominent business leaders from various sectors represented by the Clean Energy Buyers Association and Carbon-free Alliance, such as IT, semiconductors, automobiles, batteries, steel, energy equipment, and energy supply, including Samsung Electronics, LG Energy Solution, Hyundai Motor, POSCO, SK, LS Electric, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and ExxonMobil attended and explored collaborative means to achieve climate goals.

Participating companies from both nations acknowledged the importance of public-private cooperation and committed to providing a joint response between the governments and companies in achieving net zero-emissions and responding to the pressing issue of climate change.  The two countries governments discussed measures that will promote the use of various clean energy sources and expand investment in clean power, in addition to providing policy support.

The United States highlighted the important role that the private sector can play in sending signals to government policymakers on corporate renewable energy demand and policy actions to expand clean electricity as a top priority for decarbonizing their operations.

Minister Bang underscored the importance of mobilizing all policy efforts at hand, particularly in light of the need for a stable supply of large-scale power and the imperative need to achieve carbon neutrality among the global companies in attendance.  He discussed how the Carbon-Free (CF) Alliance Initiative of Korea and the U.S. Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI) share a common vision of expanding clean power through the use of carbon-free energy.  He expressed his optimism for a mutually beneficial partnership between the two initiatives, starting with this meeting.

President Lee Hoesung of the CFE Alliance attended the meeting and emphasized the urgent need for solidarity from the international community to overcome the climate crisis facing the world.  He added that improving the capacity to supply carbon-free energy from a technology-neutral perspective is crucial in achieving this goal.