Yonsei News

While the COVID-19 pandemic situation has been ongoing for more than a year, abnormal weather conditions have also occurred in many parts of the world. South Korea, which lacks preparation against global warming, has been named the “world’s four major climate villains” by overseas research institutes and media. President Moon of South Korea pledged a strong push for carbon neutrality as he declared 2050 Carbon Neutrality. Professor Kang Hojeong from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea shared his insights on climate change and a sustainable ecosystem.

Ecology: Economy of Nature

“Great Britain has a long history in researching on ecology and climate change, and it has paved academic progress in the early stage of ecology. The United States has been investing heavily in basic sciences and has excellent research-orientated universities, although research on climate change was shrunk under the Trump administration. Recently, China is also witnessing rapid development in ecological research.”

Professor Kang explains that China uses the term “ecological and environmental security” whereby the central government manages the country’s natural disasters, environmental pollution, and quality of life, and it funds ecological research. Although it is a socialist country, China’s research in sciences has been progressing immensely based on the thought that the country’s economy only developed when its science research develops.

Meanwhile, the South Korean government recently stressed the importance of designing roadmaps for achieving 2050 Carbon Neutrality in various fields and that reducing greenhouse gas emissions and responding to climate change should not be postponed. How does the discipline of ecology contribute to solving climate change?

“Ecology began as a branch of biology. At the time when Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution created a huge social impact, German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel was conducting interdisciplinary research on the interaction among living things and interaction between living things and the environment, resulting in the field of ecology. The term ‘eco’ in ecology is originated from the term ‘economy of nature’ in Darwin’s book, which has the same meaning as ‘eco’ in economics.

Weaving Values of Diversity in Ecosystem for Coexistence

Professor Kang has written four popular books. He published a book on writing that would help his students accurately depict data obtained by their research. He wrote Science in Wine based on his interests, and co-authored Consilience into Knowledge. Recently, he published a book Weaving Diversity based on his major, ecology. We asked him what the “diversity” in the book’s title refers to.

“An important starting point for ecology is a variety of creatures belonging to nature. The main question is to identify the relationship between a complex range of species. ‘diversity’ in the narrow sense refers to the genetic diversity within living things, and in a broad sense it refers to how diverse the habitats they live in are.”

He adds that the term also encompasses diversity within human societies. In his book, he refers to diversities in gender, age, and political ideologies. This is because ensuring diversity at the maximum level is not only politically and ethically correct, but also advances the efficiency of the system.

Understanding the Ecosystem as an Essential Knowledge for Survival

Professor Kang emphasizes through his book the theme of “understanding the ecosystem as an essential knowledge of survival.” In the era of the climate crisis, what kind of knowledge do we need, and most importantly, how should we live with that knowledge?

“Many environmentalists use the geological term ‘human tax’ to measure humanity’s impact on the planet Earth. Humans initiated a series of changes on this planet, starting from the agricultural revolution to economic and population growths after the Word War 2; this was followed by the use of nuclear weapons that led to higher levels of radioactivity in the atmosphere, triggering climate change. The term ‘human tax’ is based on the idea that humanity contaminates the entire planet and boosts economic growth without taking into consideration of the ecosystem, always disregarding the environment. The unified urban life of humans has led to a rapid decline in biodiversity, rise in sea levels, and changes in the composition of crops and fisheries, eventually causing food problems.”

He explains the impact of the environment on society, citing the problems of environmental migrants.

“Political turmoil and poor agricultural productivity resulted in creating refugees, who have been living across Europe, causing many social problems. Droughts in North Africa and the Mediterranean coast and food shortages are underlying problems of the chaos of racial hatred and right-wing extremism, that have contributed to the collapse of the social welfare system.”

Climate change is a matter of survival that affects the entire society, rather than a distanced problem.

What are Fundamental Solutions to Stop Human Desire?

Then, what are the fundamental solutions in order to preserve the Earth’s environment?

“Some claim that the development of science and technology will ultimately resolve the problem. The development of technology that can absorb carbon dioxide and restore biodiversity will be the solution. On the opposite hand, there is a claim that humans are cancerous to the global environment. This is often referred to as a deep ecological perspective. I believe that both developing technology and conserving nature are important.”

Professor Kang explains that to change one’s thoughts and the social system itself, various interest parties must cooperate. Various interest parties put forward different solutions such as giving economic incentives or mandating to pay environmental costs, providing correct information to initiate right judgments, raising environmental awareness, or initiating social movements via NGOs or religious activities. All of these claims are important and each effort must be combined to resolve the fundamental problem.

COVID-19 and its Countermeasures from an Ecologist’s Perspective

The spread of COVID-19, a zoonotic disease, is a problem related to the environment. Professor Kang elaborates on his views surrounding the pandemic.

“We need to pay attention to the fact that this kind of pandemic will occur repeatedly in the future. A virus that does not appear harmful at the moment might trigger big problems due to changes in the environment. In order to reduce that risk, we need to coexist with nature. We need to change our desire to achieve exponential economic growth. It might not be feasible to main the environment as it is, but we certainly need to restrict the development and exploration of certain areas.”

He uses the North Pole as an example. Although it was abandoned land in the past, now there is much controversy surrounding it between those who claim to develop the North Pole for natural resources and those who argue that it should be preserved as it is. If development occurs constantly, diseases and side effects will inevitably arise. To maintain humanity and its quality of life, the process of destroying the natural ecosystem is a matter to ponder deeply about. If there is no concern about when to stop development, it should be noted that new forms of infectious disease and natural disasters can continue to emerge.

Government’s Declaration on Carbon Neutrality and Our Habits and Actions

The South Korean government has declared its goal to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050, but not enough measures against climate change have been implemented so far. Professor Kang shares his opinions on the idea of government-led responses against climate change.

“In Europe, opinions of individuals and civic groups play an important role in decision-making. However, we need to acknowledge that in Korea, the government needs to lead initiatives on responding to climate change. Although the government’s declaration on carbon neutrality is a tough goal to reach, it is important to arrange institutional, educational, and economic factors to make it happen.”

While environmental protection efforts by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teen environmentalist, have exerted enough political influence to confront the president of the United States, it is certainly not easy to change society with individual efforts. The priority is to create a system and procedure that would enable individuals to act. For instance, throwing away recyclable waste is inconvenient for single-family residents, but with laws, individual habits and behaviors are bound to follow.

Issues that are Buried Beneath the Pandemic

Professor Kang expresses his concerns on issues that are forgotten due to the ongoing pandemic situation.

“Every year, there have been serious issues arising from air pollution, microplastics, and immunity to antibiotics. Also, food poisoning that usually occurred in summer is now occurring in winter due to the spread of norovirus. As society ages, there is an issue of treating underlying diseases of the elderly and a decline in the quality of life of individuals. While these issues have not received much attention from the media, they are something that our society must continuously deal with. Large typhoons, droughts, torrential showers, and heavy snow related to climate change will occur more frequently too. We need to talk about how we will respond to these issues and survive.”

Citing Suncheon City of South Korea as an example, Professor Kang says that the days when civil engineering and development projects revive local economies are long gone. Suncheon is the only city within Jeolla provinces that is witnessing a rise in population, and the reason for it can be found in the preservation efforts of the Suncheon Bay wetland. Countless tourists are visiting the city to see the natural scenery of the wetland. Although many objected to the designation of nature conservation sites, it is necessary to study, promote and share information about these success stories. This is because when awareness of what is right increases, environmental conservation efforts will accelerate.

Finally, Professor Kang points out that our society should respect diversity not only in appearance but also in thoughts.

“Systems including education that encourage diversity of thoughts and diversity of arguments create a healthy society. The debate process might seem inefficient, but in the long run, respect for diversity will provide the most efficient solution to environmental and social problems.”