Could a green new deal turn South Korea from climate villain to model?

(The Guardian, 23 May 2020) Country’s youngest MP is on a mission, inspired by Greta Thunberg, as climate moves up political agenda.

A year ago, Soyoung Lee was one of a crowd of climate activists demonstrating on the streets of Seoul in a campaign inspired by the global school strike founder Greta Thunberg.

Today, the 35-year-old lawyer is the youngest member of the South Korean parliament and a driving force in the government’s green new deal, which aims to create millions of jobs in renewable energy and help the economy recover from the coronavirus lockdown.

Lee’s transformation highlights how much progress the global wave of youth climate activism has made in a remarkably short space of time. It also raises hopes that South Korea – a country long considered one of the world’s worst climate villains – will set a global example by accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels.

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The Guardian, 23 May 2020: Could a green new deal turn South Korea from climate villain to model?