In Korea, the push to achieve carbon neutralityand reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050constitutes a monumental paradigm shift, andefforts to facilitate this momentous changeare poised to exert a significant impact on theeconomy, industry, and society as a whole. RealizingKorea’s national carbon neutrality visionrequires wholesale changes to the economy,industry, and even the daily lives of verydaypeople. And in the pursuit of net-zero, thesechanges will not be limited to specific sectorsor technologies, and are likely to develop andevolve in diverse ways. Converting the existingcarbon-intensive industrial structure to alow-carbon or zero-carbon economy will necessitatemajor innovations across multiple sectors,given the role, scope, and influence of energy— the principal source of carbon emissions— in production and consumption.

Korea’s 2050 national carbon neutral strategydesignates the “region” as the primary geographicand administrative unit in which carbon
neutrality measures are to be implementedand net-zero ultimately realized. The Koreangovernment has emphasized the importance of
regional areas in promoting carbon neutrality,stating that “regions are spaces where economic,social, and life changes take place, and local
governments are the actual implementers ofcarbon neutral policies by sector.”

To aid in evaluating the ability of any givenregion to competently implement net-zero policies,for this study we design and build a new
indicator, the Carbon-neutral Policy CapacityIndex (CPCI). This tool is designed to be usedin evaluating regional carbon neutrality policy
implementation capacity.