In search of solutions to achieve carbon neutrality, the JeongSeon Forum 2021 kicked off its three-day journey Thursday at High1 Grand Hotel Convention Tower in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province.

Back for its fourth edition this year, the forum, hosted by Gangwon Province, Jeongseon County and Gangwon Tourism Organization invited experts, scholars, and business representatives from both in and outside of Korea.

The event has been designed to be a forum for eco-friendly culture and ecological civilization in line with the P4G Seoul Summit and G-7 summit both recognizing climate crisis as a global problem, the organizing committee said in a press release.

But due to the surging number of COVID-19 cases across the country as of late, all programs and sessions of the forum are being held online with no audience at the venue. Invited speakers and staff members of the organizing committee are only allowed at the site. Some guests are remotely participating in their sessions.

“JeongSeon Forum will be able to provide trustworthy insight into ways to march toward green recovery,” German Ambassador to Korea Michael Reiffenstuel said in a congratulatory remark.

After the opening ceremony, Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, delivered his keynote speech on a “Master Plan for Carbon Neutrality in Future Eco-Society.” He discussed the roles that individuals, businesses and countries must take in order to switch to a zero carbon economy while providing his view on how quickly the global market will go carbon neutral.

A special lecture by Choe Jae-chun, distinguished chair professor of EcoScience at Ewha Womans University covered the need for ecological changes to prepare for life on Earth after the coronavirus pandemic. In his speech, Choe delivered a message to wisely overcome the upcoming climate and biodiversity crisis.

The forum will also offer themed sessions to present action plans to work toward sustainable development goals by looking at what people and cities can do. Friday’s programs include sessions on zero waste movement, environmentally friendly energy from innovative technology of carbon neutrality and the role of businesses to produce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

The official YouTube channel of the Gangwon Provincial government is live streaming every event. On top of that, local broadcasters are airing the programs so that more people can watch them.

According to the organizers, there will be hands-on events for anyone participating in the online forum, including real time quizzes related to the topics from each session and opportunities to ask questions for speakers.

More details are available on the official website of the JeongSeon Forum 2021.