U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hopes many countries will follow the "remarkable example" of South Korea, which he said has been "extremely successful" in addressing the coronavirus pandemic.
During a press conference Thursday, Guterres pointed to the country recording its first day of no new domestic infections since the start of its outbreak in late January.
At the same time, he said South Korea has presented plans for "a very ambitious green deal," including a ban on new coal-fired plants and a reduction of emissions from existing plants.
Guterres said recovery from the pandemic "needs to go hand-in-hand with climate action," just as South Korea is doing now.
He called on governments to ensure that spending to revitalize their economies gives priority to the creation of "green jobs" and use of low-carbon energy sources, adding that taxpayers' money should not be used to subsidize fossil fuels or bail out polluting, carbon-intensive industries.
<Photo: Yonhap News>
