Climate change in North Korea

Per capita CO2 emissions of North Korea (1950-2008)

North Korea is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its weak food security, which in the past has led to widespread famine.[1] The North Korean Ministry of Land and Environmental Protection estimates that North Korea's average temperature rose by 1.9 °C between 1918 and 2000.[2] In the 2013 edition of Germanwatch's Climate Risk Index, North Korea was judged to be the seventh hardest hit by climate-related extreme weather events of 179 nations during the period 1992–2011.[3]

North Korean carbon dioxide emissions are estimated to be roughly 56.38 million metric tons of CO2 in 2021. The vast majority of this is due to North Korea's reliance on coal for energy production.[4][5] As a result of its mountainous geography as well as the onset of sea level rise and increasing frequency of extreme weather events, the biggest climate change-related concern for North Korea is food security. Low food production in 2017 and 2018 resulted in undernourishment in an estimated 10.3 million people.[6] This has created a high dependency on foreign nations to fulfil food demands. This challenge - along with disruption to economic growth as a result of climate change - might undermine the totalitarian rule of the North Korean government and may be a cause for regime change in the future.[7]

  1. ^ Eunjee, Kim (23 November 2015). "Experts: N. Korea Especially Vulnerable to Effects of Climate Change". Voa News. Voice of America. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. ^ Ministry of Land and Environment Protection (2012). Democratic People's Republic of Korea Environment and Climate Change Outlook (Report). Ministry of Land and Environment Protection. p. 75. ISBN 978-9946-1-0170-5. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  3. ^ Harmeling, Sven; Eckstein, David (November 2012). Baum, Daniela; Kier, Gerold (eds.). Global Climate Risk Index 2013 (PDF) (Report). Germanwatch e.V. ISBN 978-3-943704-04-4.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference WorldinData was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference CoalDiplomacy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference DroughtFood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Habib, Benjamin (2010). "Climate Change and Regime Perpetuation in North Korea". Asian Survey. 50 (2): 396–400. doi:10.1525/as.2010.50.2.378.