Good morning to our distinguished guests,
speakers, and to the ladies and gentlemen in our audience today.
Thank you for attending the inaugural Daesung World Energy Forum,
which is being held in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of
the founding of Daesung Group.
In the past six decades Daesung Group has become Korea’s leader in the field of energy. We have
always had a keen awareness of what new developments there have been in this field, ranging from a
change in reliance on coal to the emergence of gas and now new and exciting technologies for
our future.
Yet, I cannot imagine a more apt time for a Forum such as the one we are hosting today.
In a grim and powerful assessment of the future of the planet, the leading international network of climate
scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activity
is the main driver, “very likely” causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950.
This broad array of scientists said the latest analysis was the most sobering view yet of a century of
transition—after thousands of years of relatively stable climate conditions—to a new norm of continual
change.
Here, anecdotal evidence and warnings from climate experts suggest that the process is already well
under way on the Korean peninsula. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the average
temperature on the peninsula has gone up by 1.5 degrees centigrade, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit since
1910, twice the average rise of the average global temperature of three-quarters of a degree.
Korea’s winters in the 1990s were about a month shorter than those in the 1920s.
Since the release of the Stern Review in January this year on the dire effects of greenhouse gas
emissions on global warming and Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” highlighting the
intensification of droughts, heat waves, floods, and severe storms, a wide spectrum of leaders and
scientists have questioned the economic and developmental sustainability of mother earth’s ecosystems
and societies.
The message, it seems, has finally gotten through. Climate change represents a serious threat to our
planet. At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, which I attended, climate change, for the first
time, topped the list of global concerns. I came away with the conclusion that the climate-change issue
is in definite need of leadership.
It is in the field of renewable energy, which has been steadily emerging as an area of focus during the
transition period to the post oil era, that we can find this leadership; hence the theme of our Forum and
our invitations to hear from this group of world-renowned experts in this field. I know of some success
stories in countries like Denmark, which is now generating over 20% of its electricity with wind turbines.
Japan, on another front, is utilizing the remarkable success of its semiconductor technology in its
leadership of solar cell installation.
In the realm of biofuels, ethanol, together with biodiesel, is the leading liquid motor fuel and in 2005
reached 16 million tons of oil equivalent or about 0.4% of world oil consumption. Recently China
announced that another six methanol plants, where the primary energy source is coal, will be built in
Inner Mongolia by 2010 increasing its annual production capacity to 48,500,000 tons. I look forward to
hearing more on perhaps these and other promising developments from our panelists this morning.
I would also like to mention that we at Daesung Group are making our own contributions to the progress
of renewable energy. Several projects including our hybrid SolaWin solution and the another involving
landfill gas are being successfully executed in cooperation with city and national governments under
Private-Public Partnership Initiatives. The SolaWin project brings off-grid electricity to communities
outside Ulaanbaator in Outer Mongolia while the landfill gas facility in Daegu uses biomass energy for
power generation. Another exciting development is our Genghis Khan Eco Energy Park or GEEP Project
which will utilize Korean technology in the development of a solar and wind-based renewable energy
theme park in Mongolia.
I used the word “grim” at the beginning of my remarks, but I do not wish to end on such a serious note.
Without a doubt there will be many opportunities generated during this transition period and I am honored
that we have experts in the fields of renewable energy to enlighten us on them, too.
As I close, I would like to quote from Sir Nicholas Stern. He states, “There is still time to avoid the worst
impact of climate change, if we take strong action now.” In line with this is the fact that Daesung Group
is now not 60 years old, but rather, 60 years young and with this spirit of youth and impetus to action
we look forward, with hope, to the ultimate renewal that energy will bring.
Thank you very much.
