Issue Low-carbon transition of energy supply

Summary

The issue concerns replacing coal, oil and other fossil fuels with carbon-free and low-carbon sources such as renewables, nuclear power and fusion, and hydrogen to meet climate and carbon-neutrality goals. Because fossil-fuel energy systems powered modernisation and economic growth everywhere, the shift requires a parallel transformation of the wider economic and social system and is a very difficult long-term task. Countries are setting emission-reduction targets and renewable goals tailored to their circumstances for the energy sector, which accounts for most global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon neutrality is reshaping the global economic order, making clean-energy technology and commercialisation capability a core element of national competitiveness, while electrification and AI data centres drive up power demand and require grid modernisation and storage. In Korea, delayed grid build-out is causing connection limits and curtailment, and as carbon trade barriers and supply-chain issues grow, affordable and stable clean power has become a precondition for industrial competitiveness that calls for consistent long-term policy.