South Korea to invest £1.2bn to support fuel efficient vehicle development
Wed 22 April 2009
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South Korea has announced a financial stimulus package worth £23bn of which over 80% is to be earmarked for environmental projects. Included in the plans is over £1.2bn to support the development of fuel-efficient vehicles, such as electric and hybrid cars, by automakers Hyundai and Kia.
The Guardian reports that according to an international ranking of international financial stimulus packages by the bank HSBC, 81% of the £23bn stimulus package is earmarked for green projects, easily the highest proportion in the world and considerably more than the 7% share in the UK.
The South Korean investment is reported to be the equivalent to 2.6% of the country's GDP. Over the next four years, the government promises to build a million green homes, improve the energy efficiency of a million more, invest £1.2bn on research into low-carbon technologies and spend £4.8bn on high-speed railways and other forms of "clean" transport.
More than 2,500 miles of bicycle expressways will reportedly be built and there will be big expansions in subways, railways and electric car ownership.
However, with few specific details about how the money will be spent and no estimate of the impact on carbon emissions, The Guardian reports that environmental auditing of the plan will be difficult. Diplomats and local journalists said the true amount of green spending was likely to be far below 81%. There is also skepticism because concern for the environment has traditionally been a low priority in South Korea's development, which has centred on energy-intensive heavy industry.
According to HSBC Global Research (see accompanying link to report, just 6.9% of the UK's first fiscal stimulus, revealed last November, had a green component. The average green component of all fiscal stimulus packages around the world, the HSBC analysis says, has been 15.3%.
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