Raekwon Chung
Most climate strategies inside organisations are built around compliance logic: what to reduce, what to offset, what to report. That framing treats climate action as a cost. The harder question; how to make low-carbon development an engine of economic growth rather than a constraint on it, requires understanding how international climate policy is actually constructed, and where the leverage sits.
When organisations need to understand how global climate policy is made – not just how to respond to it – Raekwon Chung brings the perspective of Korea’s first climate ambassador, the UN official who led development of the Low Carbon Green Growth Roadmap, and a Principal Advisor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Raekwon Chung
- The Low Carbon Green Growth Roadmap, a UN publication Chung directed at ESCAP provides a named, five-track policy architecture for pursuing growth while reducing carbon intensity; organisations that understand this framework can make the economic case for climate investment, not just the compliance case.
- Very few speakers have shaped the rules of international climate governance from inside the room; Chung has participated in UN climate negotiations since 1991, advised a UN Secretary-General directly, and co-authored the IPCC’s foundational report on technology transfer.
- His specific IPCC contribution; the Technology Transfer Report addresses one of the least resolved tensions in corporate climate strategy: how emerging-market operations can access and deploy clean technologies at scale.
- The Green Growth argument Chung developed is an economic one, not a moral one; he shows how resource efficiency and low-carbon investment can generate a double dividend; higher growth with lower environmental impact, a position grounded in a verifiable UN policy architecture rather than consulting opinion.
- As Board Director for Climate and Energy at the Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future, he remains an active participant in the international climate architecture rather than a commentator on it.
Biography highlights
- Korea’s first Climate Change Ambassador; engaged in UN climate negotiations since 1991
- Principal Climate Change Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
- Director, Environment and Development Division, UN ESCAP; led development of the Low Carbon Green Growth Roadmap for Asia and the Pacific (2012)
- IPCC Lead Author, Technology Transfer Report; received personal copy of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC
- Chairman, International Award Committee, Global Energy Prize
- Board Director for Climate and Energy, Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future; Professor Emeritus, Incheon National University, Korea
Biography
Whether climate action and economic growth can be pursued simultaneously is no longer a theoretical question: it is the defining tension in development strategy. Raekwon Chung has spent three decades not analysing that question but helping to answer it, from South Korea’s first climate ambassador to the UN official who directed the Low Carbon Green Growth Roadmap.
The Roadmap, published in 2012 under Chung’s leadership at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, set out a five-track policy architecture for governments pursuing growth while reducing carbon intensity. It became a reference document for Asia-Pacific policymakers and shaped how international institutions framed the relationship between development economics and climate obligations. The core argument is economic: resource efficiency and low-carbon investment generate a double dividend: higher growth alongside lower environmental impact.
His direct involvement in the institutions that set climate rules is unusual. He served as Principal Climate Change Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and was Lead Author on the IPCC’s Technology Transfer Report. The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007; Chung received a personal copy in recognition of his contribution. He also proposed the concept of unilateral CDM, enabling developing countries to initiate emissions reduction projects independently, without waiting for partner-country involvement.
He now chairs the International Award Committee of the Global Energy Prize and serves as Board Director for Climate and Energy at the Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future. His perspective is that of a practitioner inside the international climate architecture, not an observer of it.
Key speaking topics
- Low-carbon development policy
- Green Growth as economic strategy
- International climate governance
- Climate diplomacy and multilateral negotiation
- Energy transition in emerging economies
- Technology transfer and clean energy access
- ESG strategy and climate-aligned investment
Ideal for
- Government ministers, senior civil servants, and diplomats engaged in climate policy or international negotiations
- Chief Sustainability Officers and ESG leads at multinationals with Asia-Pacific exposure or supply chain decarbonisation mandates
- Boards and executive committees making the economic case for net-zero commitments
- International organisations and multilateral institutions working on development finance or energy transition
Audience outcomes
- A clearer understanding of how international climate frameworks are designed, and how organisations can position themselves within them rather than simply react to them
- The economic logic of Green Growth as a lens for reframing climate investment as a development opportunity rather than a compliance cost
- Insight into the real dynamics of multilateral climate negotiation and what drives national ambition levels
- Practical perspectives on technology transfer and clean energy access, particularly relevant for emerging-market operations and supply chain decarbonisation
- Context for the convergence of climate policy, development economics, and energy transition across the Asia-Pacific region
Talks
Examines how economic development and emissions reduction can be advanced together through the low-carbon green growth policy framework Chung helped build at the UN.
Key takeaways:
- The economic argument for Green Growth: how resource efficiency and low-carbon investment generate higher growth alongside lower environmental impact
- The role of innovation and clean technology in supporting low-carbon economic strategies
- Job creation and industrial opportunity associated with climate-aligned growth
Analyses the challenges and policy options facing emerging economies as they work towards low-carbon and net-zero pathways, drawing on Chung’s direct experience with Asia-Pacific development contexts.
Key takeaways:
- Key barriers to industrial decarbonisation in emerging economies and how policy architecture can address them
- The role of technology transfer – including Chung’s own IPCC work – in enabling clean energy access at scale
- Lessons from the Asia Clean Energy Forum and other global policy and transition forums
A practitioner’s account of how international institutions and national governments shape the direction and ambition of global climate agendas, from inside the negotiating rooms.
Key takeaways:
- How international institutions set the rules that govern national climate commitments
- What drives, and constrains ambition in multilateral climate negotiations
- How to read the international climate architecture and anticipate where policy is heading