"Let's talk Transition! Exploring the Energy Transition in Korea and Germany" is a series organized by the Korean-German Energy Partnership Team on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). It focuses on current developments regarding the energy transition in both countries. Each session focuses on a specific topic and offers decision-makers from policy, industry and research a platform for in-depth information and discussion on the current status, development and potential for different energy transition policies and technologies in Germany and Korea.

The first session delves into the topic of Carbon Pricing and the different approaches and lessons learned so far. Germany launched its national ETS, complementary to emissions not covered by the EU ETS, for heating and transport fuels already in 2021. With the introduction of the ETS, a wide range of sectors in Germany are now subject to a carbon price. Meanwhile, the Korean ETS was put into operation in 2015 and constitutes the first nationwide, mandatory ETS in East Asia. The Korean ETS covers around 89% of South Korea's national GHG emissions. While Korea's and Germany's systems both encompass substantial parts of each country's emissions and have similar overarching goals, the two trading schemes differ.