Nowon-gu to Showcase Carbon Neutrality Leadership at 2nd EU Green Day Festival

Seoul's Nowon-gu will participate in the 2nd EU Green Day Festival on Oct. 17 at Dalbit Square in Banpo Han River Park, showcasing its policy achievements and resident-led initiatives as a leading carbon-neutral city to domestic and international audiences.

Organized by the EU Delegation to South Korea, the festival aims to raise awareness of climate change and nature conservation and to broaden public participation in climate action. About 30 organizations will take part, including six EU member-state embassies in Korea and various NGOs. Nowon-gu and Yeosu are the only two local governments participating.

Nowon-gu bills itself as the only carbon-neutral pioneer city in the Greater Seoul metropolitan area, pursuing carbon-neutrality policies across urban sectors including construction, energy and transportation. Through international environmental cooperation networks, the district has shared its climate action results and exchanged policies with other cities. At this year's festival, it plans to present those policy experiences and resident participation cases to attendees from home and abroad.

On the day of the event, the district will operate three booths from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A carbon-neutrality promotion booth will display the district's key policies and informational materials and run a "Carbon Neutrality in Your Bag" event, offering small commemorative gifts to visitors who carry environmentally related items such as tumblers in their bags.

A civic participation booth will feature a lamp-miniature keyring-making activity run by the Nowon Environment Foundation and a "Catch the Carbon Ball" game organized by the Nowon Carbon Neutrality Citizens' Council. The booths are designed to let visitors experience and learn about the meaning and practice of carbon neutrality in an accessible and enjoyable way.

Nowon-gu has been advancing everyday carbon neutrality through resident engagement. On Sept. 5, about 1,000 residents gathered for the "2026 Nowon Carbon Neutrality Citizens' Declaration," at which the district announced 10 carbon-neutrality agenda items covering expanded youth participation in climate policy and support for urban solar installations.

The district is also fleshing out concrete implementation tasks. At a joint climate action resolution event on Sept. 2, District Mayor Seo Jun-o pledged to complete, within his term, a full transition of the district's fleet vehicles to electric vehicles, introduce a green building rating system, cut energy consumption in public buildings by 10 percent, and establish a community-based local upcycling center. Nowon-gu plans to use these commitments to accelerate progress toward its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

In the construction sector, the district is pursuing a building greenhouse gas cap system to reduce emissions from buildings, which are a major source, while expanding zero-energy building standards to newly built apartment complexes. Green remodeling of aging public buildings is also under way. The district office building is set to receive building-integrated photovoltaic panels that combine solar power generation with aesthetic improvements and public information display functions.

In transportation, the district supports cycling through a district-wide bicycle insurance program and cycling education for all residents. It also plans to expand green space in residential areas through a project to plant about 1 million trees by 2029.

International cooperation is also deepening. Nowon-gu is a member city of ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability, the world's largest local government environmental cooperation network. Last year, the district joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) and the RE100 Cities Network, through which it reports its greenhouse gas reduction progress and climate action results to international disclosure frameworks and shares policy experiences with other cities.

The district has also earned recognition in international assessments. This year, Nowon-gu achieved the top "Compliant" badge in the GCoM climate action evaluation by meeting all requirements across the mitigation, adaptation and energy categories. It also received an A- rating from CDP, the highest level among Seoul's autonomous districts.

"Carbon neutrality can only produce results when residents' everyday practices and the policies that support them go hand in hand," District Mayor Seo Jun-o said. "Through this festival, we will share Nowon's carbon-neutrality policies and residents' real-life examples with participants from home and abroad, and we will consistently expand carbon-neutrality policies that residents can feel in their daily lives."