Feb 18 - BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

South Korea has kicked off its first "carbon neutral" campaign aiming to get people and businesses to voluntarily cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, the government said Monday.

The programme, supported by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the Korea Energy Management Corp. (KEMCO), permits energy users to calculate their average greenhouse gas emissions and to give contributions that can restore the environment.

"KEMCO has opened an on-line site that permits people to determine how much carbon dioxide they use by inputting routine information like distance travelled by car, energy used in the home or travelling, and business activities that have been conducted during a set period of time," a ministry official said.

Contributions that can range from US$4-99 dollars for a ton of CO2 released into the atmosphere will go into planting trees that can absorb CO2 gasses, and used to develop clean reusable energy.

The official added that the campaign aims to prevent environmental catastrophes that may be experienced by future generations, and reduce the impact on domestic industry if South Korea joins global efforts to cut down on CO2 emissions.

South Koreans released 498 million tons of greenhouse gasses from their homes and workplaces in 2005, ranking them the 10th largest emitter in the world in that year.

The United Nations has warned that unless the world cuts back on CO2 starting in 2015, the earth could face serious repercussions.

Seoul is currently not obligated to reduce greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol, but it may have to join the international effort from 2013, a move that could entail greater costs for companies.

Originally published by Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0534 18 Feb 08.

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