Evaluation of Korea's Climate Crisis Adaptation Measures

Published on July 29, 2025
Published by Economic Industrial ProgramEvaluation Division

    Since 2010, the Korean government has implemented national climate crisis adaptation measures based on the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth for Coping with the Climate Crisis, with plans to invest KRW 111.7 trillion by 2025. While the government is now preparing to launch the 4th National Climate Crisis Adaptation Measures, there has been a lack of in-depth evaluation of these measures at both the government and National Assembly levels.
   In response to this situation, this report reviews the status of fiscal investments made for climate crisis adaptation measures to date, evaluates the outcomes of foundational projects, and analyzes key issues and areas for improvement in programs in major areas. The analysis finds that the government needs to scale up preventive programs and R&D investment to strengthen the country's capacity for climate crisis adaptation and establish detailed mid-to-long-term policy goals as well as reasonable performance indicators to minimize potential damage and recovery costs caused by climate crisis. Thanks to the measures implemented so far, the climate crisis has become a mainstream consideration in relevant laws and national policy. Nevertheless, further actions are required such as adopting an evaluation system of climate crisis impacts and vulnerabilities and advancing adaptation information systems.
   This report provides an analysis of four major areas of fiscal investment - protection of climate-vulnerable groups, agriculture and fisheries, water management, and forest disaster management. For protection of climate-vulnerable populations, the government needs to identify climate-vulnerable populations, conduct vulnerability assessments, establish mandatory protection frameworks, and develop tailored support programs. For agriculture and fisheries, it is essential to scale up R&D investment to strengthen capacity for climate crisis adaptation, advance agro-meteorological information systems, and expand coverage of agricultural and fisheries disaster insurance. For water management, legal reforms are necessary to integrate water management practices, while improving river maintenance rates and strengthening ministerial cooperation in responding to urban flooding are other key priorities. For forest disaster management, the government is advised to strengthen implementation of future climate impact and vulnerability evaluations and improve the management of forest fire and landslide prevention programs.