Susann SchäferClimate Change Adaptation in South Korea

Social and Cultural Geography Volume 7

Susann Schäfer is research and teaching associate in the Department of Econo-mic Geography at the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena. Her research focus isclimate and energy politics in East Asia, mobility of knowledge, and networktheories.

Susann Schäfer

Climate Change Adaptation in South KoreaEnvironmental Politics in the Agricultural Sector

The research presented in this book was carried out as part of the InternationalResearch Training Group TERRECO (GRK 1565/1) funded by the DFG (DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft) at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and the Ko-rean Research Foundation (KRF) at Gangwon National University, Chuncheon,South Korea.

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche NationalbibliothekBibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Natio-nalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet athttp://dnb.d-nb.de

© 2015 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld© 2015 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or uti-lized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now knownor hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any infor-mation storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from thepublisher.

Cover layout: Kordula Röckenhaus, BielefeldCover illustration: © Michael Wegener and Susann Schäfer,

Universität Bayreuth, 2014Printed in GermanyPrint-ISBN 978-3-8376-3057-2PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-3057-6

Table of content

Introduction | 11

Climate Change adaptation

The concept of climate change adaptation | 23Climate change adaptation in the scientific debate | 23Climate change adaptation in the agricultural sector | 29

The consequences of the epistemological stance for the political debate | 40

theoretiCal StanCeS

A mobile political agenda: adaptation to climate change | 4Networks of mobile political agendas | 51

| 53Translating a mobile political agenda | 58Actor-Network Theory and the Theory of Justification | 62The Theory of Justification: Examination of actors’ rationalities | 63Methodological approach based on Actor-Network Theory and Justifi-cation Theory | 66

empiriCal Study

South Korean environmental policy | 77The emergence of environmental policy | 80Environmental Reviews: Green Korea and Ecorea | 84The Green Growth Strategy | 88

Korean Adaptation Center for Climate Change (KACCC) | 97Projects and aims of KACCC | 101Concepts of climate change adaptation | 103

5

| 35The epistemological status of concept adaptationthe

Actor-Network Theory

The mobility of the adaptation agenda | 106

Problematization of climate change in South Korea | 115Problematization according to sectors | 124Beyond problematization: justifications for climate change adaptation | 126

Involvement of central governmental actors | 141Central actors in agriculture: Rural Development Administration | 147New agricultural technologies | 153

Involvement of regional governmental actors | 161Actors in Gangwon: Climate Change Research Institute | 161Links between central and regional actors | 169CCAIS: Climate Change Adaptation Information System | 170The Agricultural Technology Center | 176

Distant mobilization of farmers | 183Rural development and agricultural policy in Inje | 183Problematization of weather and climate change | 188Farming practices and limitations of coping | 190Linking the national and local | 198The top-down and bottom-up perspectives of climate change adapta

-tion | 200

Continued way of traveling: Boosting adaptation | 203International climate change workshops | 205Boosting adaptation | 212Bridging developing and developed countries | 215

Summar y and outlookSummary | 225Reflections | 22The future of Gangwon: scenarios for a rural province | 230

References | 243

7

aCronymS and abbreviationS

ADAM Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: Supporting European Climate PolicyAKS Academy of Korean StudiesANT Actor-Network TheoryAPAN Asia Pacific Adaptation NetworkASEAN Association of Southeast Asian NationsATC Agriculture Technology CenterBAU Business As UsualCCAIS Climate Change Adaptation Information Delivery SystemCDM Clean Development MechanismCOP Conference of the Parties CRIK Climate Change Research Institute of KoreaDEFRA Department for Environment, Food, and Rural AffairsEU European UnionFAO Food and Agriculture OrganizationFIFA Fédération Internationale de Football AssociationGCF Green Climate FundGHG Green House GasesGIS Geographic Information SystemGDP Gross Domestic ProductGMO Genetically Modified OrganismGNP Gross National ProductGVA Gross Value AddedHFC HydrofluorocarbonIGO Intergovernmental OrganizationIMF International Monetary Fund IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeKACCC Korean Adaptation Center for Climate ChangeKEI Korean Environmental InstituteKFEM Korea Federation for Environmental MovementsKEPB Korea Environmental Policy BulletinKFRI Korean Forest Research InstituteKMA Korean Meteorological AdministrationKNU Gangwon National UniversityKOSIS Korean Statistical Information Service

KREI Korean Rural Economic Institute MAFRA Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural AffairsME Ministry of EnvironmentMIFAFF Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and FisheriesMoHSA Ministry of Health and Social AffairsNAQS National Agricultural Products Management Quality ServiceNCCAMP National Climate Change Adaptation Master PlanNIER National Institute of Environmental ResearchNGO Non-Governmental OrganizationNRCS National Research Council for Economics, Humanities, and Social SciencesODA Official Development AssistanceOECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentPFC FluorocarbonPIK Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact ResearchRCCAS Regional Climate Change Adaptation StrategiesRDA Rural Development AdministrationREDD(+) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and DegradationROK Republic of KoreaSF6 SulfurhexafluoridSMU Saemul UndongSTS Science and Technology StudiesSWOT Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats TERRECO Complex TERRain and ECOlogical HeterogeneityUAE United Arab Emirates UK United Kingdom UN United NationsUNEP United Nations Environmental ProgramUSD US DollarWWF World Wildlife Fund

Introduction

Agriculture is both vulnerable to climate change and a significant emitter of greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide, which have resulted in the warming of the atmosphere. On one hand, this sector is the most vulnerable to climate shifts and extreme weather events, such as drought, floods, storms, and temperature fluctuations. On the other hand, agriculture contributes directly and indirectly up to 15% of the total anthropogenic Green House Gases (GHG) on a global scale (IPCC 2007). Because climate change poses a risk to the livelihood of farmers and consumers, a public call for action to develop and implement mitiga-tion and adaptation strategies by political actors can be heard. Based on scientific projections of climatic shifts, strategies for coping with climate change in agriculture are being developed in many countries around the world.

Mitigation aims at reducing emissions of GHG in different sectors, as agreed in 1997 in the Kyoto Protocol, which has now expired. During the following COPs in Copenhagen, Cancún, and Durham, the negotiations did not lead to a binding commitment to GHG emission reduction. Adap-tation, on the other hand, defined as “adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities” (IPCC TAR, 2001 a), focuses on behavioral change by affected social actors, such as farmers in agriculture, and changes in governance structures. Due to the high sensitiveness of farming to climatic shifts, the urgency for action in agriculture seems to be higher than in other realms.

However, the economic significance of agriculture in developed coun-tries is often little compared to the industry and service sectors. Over the last decades, the share of agriculture in most developed countries has dec-

Climate change adaptation in South Korea12

lined to a value lower than 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the number of employees in agriculture has decreased as well.

In South Korea, the share of agriculture, including farming, forestry, and fishing, in the GDP has dropped from 26% in 1970 to 2.3% in 2010 (KOSIS 2013). This sharp fall can be explained by the rapid industrializa-tion in South Korea. In Germany, this indicator also shows a decline, but only from 3.3% (1970, West Germany) to 0.7% in 2010 (Statistisches Bun-desamt 2013). The low relevance of agriculture for national prosperity in developed countries means low urgency for political action in this sector, and instead other sectors are favored, such as health or major branches of industry.

South Korean meteorological scientists argue that the Korean penin-sula will be highly affected by climate change (Chung YS et al. 2004, Lee MH et al. 2012) and therefore farming patterns will change, and farmers will have to adapt to climate change. Extreme weather events, such as the heavy snowfall and typhoons in 2010, have raised awareness of possible future climate shifts. Despite the low importance of agriculture in terms of the national economy, agriculture in rural areas has functions that go beyond economic purposes. It has “many roles on the national level, such as food security, conservation of the national territory and the environment, and many social functions, including the maintenance of farm villages, prevention of city congestion, providing employment in the agricultural industry, and support of aged populations” (KREI 2010: 488). The central question in this book is how the government of a developed country, South Korea, deals with the situation of agriculture, a sector which has a low economic output but other important functions, and which will be highly affected by climate change. The subject of this case study, South Korea, is an interesting example, given that industrialization and the decreased importance of agriculture have changed within a few decades. Whereas in 1960, the GDP per capita was $79 in South Korea, this value has increased to $31,753, which matches to the $31,607 of the European Union. This fun-damental change from an agriculture-based rural society to an urban industry- and service-focused society challenges the agricultural popula-tion, the importance of its business, and the rural space. These issues are important not only in the South Korean case, but also in many developed countries which are confronted with similar challenges.

Studies on adaptation to climate change in agriculture tend to focus on developing countries because of the economic relevance of this sector for

Introduction 13

the development of the country and the high vulnerability of the affected farmers (Dinar et al. 2012). The literature on adaptation to climate change in developed countries has stressed the perception of climate change and the individual coping strategies of farmers (Reidsma et al. 2010, Leclère et al. 2013, Arbuckle Jr. et al. 2013).

Figure 1: Map of South Korea

Climate change adaptation in South Korea14

Political interventions in the adaptation process of farmers have rarely been examined in previous studies, given that most governments of devel-oped countries have started to develop and implement adaptation strat-egies only recently, mostly around 2009-2010 (for example, EU White Paper “Adapting to climate change: Towards a European framework for action” 2009). They have shown how farmers adapt to climate change without political intervention and how they try to cope with climatic shifts as well as they can. The purpose of political interventions can be to initiate or to facilitate adaptation to climate change by farmers. The interventions address different scales because there are national, regional, and local actors who are involved in the development and realization of adaptation strategies. Previous studies have focused on one scale but have neglected the interrelations between these scales. This study tries to fill this gap.

In the literature corpus on adaptation to climate change, the concept of adaptation is widely understood as a “good” agenda which benefits all involved actors. This concept has hardly been criticized by social scien-tists, so that it has almost a paradigmatic standing in social-science-rela-ted climate change research. It is a shortcoming of the current adaptation literature not to examine the adaptation concept critically and not to un-derstand adaptation to climate change as an instrument through which political actors accomplish their interests and exert power. Adaptation to climate change, understood as a political agenda, has two distinctive features: first, it is closely entangled with scientific research on climate change, so that the border between science and policy is blurry; second, the adaptation concept is a political agenda which is discussed by actors on a global scale (global climate politics) and implemented by national actors (national governments, ministries) and local actors (NGOs, local govern-ments). In this sense, one can understand adaptation to climate change as a mobile policy that has a common message (mostly referring to IPCC) and specific local implementation characteristics. This study understands adaptation to climate change as a mobile policy. In the light of the abo-ve-mentioned problems and shortcomings of the existing literature, this study examines the political adaptation process in the agricultural sector in South Korea on the national, regional, and local scales and aims to un-derstand how political activities on these different scales are interrelated. The national scale refers to national actors in the capital city, Seoul, the regional scale is represented by Gangwon Province in the North East of