The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between official development assistance (ODA) on CO₂ emissions based on both direct and indirect frameworks, using the annual panel data of 30 recipient countries of Korea from 1993 to 2017. It employs a modified impact, population, affluence, and technology (IPAT) model and a simultaneous equation framework for the direct model and indirect model, respectively. The empirical results suggest that ODA has both a direct and an indirect mitigation impact in the recipient countries. Compared to the direct impact, a small indirect mitigation impact of ODA on CO₂ emissions is derived. However, the estimation results of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) equation imply that economic growth has the potential of mitigating the environmental degradation when the economic development in recipient countries of Korea reaches a certain level. Therefore, the bilateral cooperation, through ODA and the supportive policy, should make an effort to promote economic development and mitigation of environmental degradation in developing countries.

Ecotourism has been promoted in many regions of Indonesia as a viable platform for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) by providing incentives to local communities for their forest conservation efforts. This study aims to find opportunities for implementing REDD+ in Bali through ecotourism market segmentation analysis, and to provide policy implications to other developing countries under similar circumstances. The results indicate that two clusters—“nature-seeking responsible tourists” and “wellness-seeking responsible tourists”—were selected as Bali’s target clusters. Since both have higher motivation and a more responsible attitude than other clusters, they are capable of not only sustaining a symbiotic relationship between the ecotourism destination and the visitor, but also attracting potential tourists with similar characteristics, ultimately contributing to the sustainable tourism business in the region. In conclusion, building a marketing strategy based on the understanding of the tourists will promote forest conservation effectively, while also playing an important role in REDD+ implementation by bringing sustainable tourism income to the local community.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 with a universal call for action to achieve a better and global sustainable future by 2030. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been recognized as an innovative mechanism for achieving UN SDGs because they help the public sector provide basic goods and services by enabling the use of the experience and funds of the private sector. This study examines the PPP network by visualizing the relationship among stakeholders through social network analysis. Considering the case of the Partnership for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 (P4G), this study investigates the actors and the relationship between the actors by stage and year. As a result, the study visualized the network of PPPs in P4G, thereby revealing that the partnerships were evolving since the participants’ relationships became stronger each year. Moreover, the role of each actor became clearer at each stage. The findings provide practical guidance for practitioners interested in promoting international development cooperation through PPPs in the future.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, one of the countries along the Mekong River, is an emerging driver of economic growth in Asia, but is facing major threats due to climate change. Especially, the Mekong Delta in Vietnam is one of the areas most vulnerable to direct inundation and salt water intrusion induced by climate change, which threatens the lives of the people who live there and harms the national and regional economies. This paper examines Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) program in the Mekong Delta with a focus on climate change. We argue that Korea’s ODA has brought about and continues to provide mutual benefits for both countries, while additionally creating further opportunities to address the adverse effects of climate change in the Mekong Delta. The results show that while the Republic of Korea has been increasingly cooperative with Vietnam regarding economic and social development through ODA, there are limitations to dealing with the issues of climate change in the Mekong Delta. Therefore, we suggest more heavily focusing on climate change in the implementation of Korea’s ODA, thus promoting sustainability and climate resilience in the Mekong Delta.

This study suggests a strategy for developing a business model by analyzing the current situation and deriving lessons learned from existing best practices. The results of a literature survey suggest that the current situation in the Ethiopian transport sector may result in the city of Addis Ababa becoming vulnerable to climate change and the failure of the existing railway business. The railway business could generate added value, but the absence of a master plan hinders the revitalization of railway infrastructure subsidiary facilities, and the predicted risk of falling passenger demand has burdened business stakeholders. In large infrastructure projects such as the railway business, such burdens can be reduced through joint financing, and even if the achievement of a stable profit model fails due to poor forecasting during the creation of the business model, business sustainability can be increased through joint risk management. Therefore, in this study, for climate change response business we suggest to utilize the CTCN TA that can be used for master plan, capacity building, and connect business ODA through large-scale investment in financial resource linkages, as well as business risk distribution. We propose a PPP structure that enhances business sustainability.

Developing countries continue to seek technological and financial support from the international community to more effectively respond to climate change. Through the Paris Agreement, many countries pledged to develop and implement a voluntary ‘Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC),’ and accordingly the demand for developing and transferring climate technology in developing countries is expected to expand further. In this regard, the present study discusses policy implications associated with accomplishing a national NDC by comparing the climate technology demands of developing countries and the present status of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). For this, technology needs assessments (TNAs) and Climate Technology Center Network Technical Assistance (CTCN TA) data were used to understand the technology demands of developing countries and to determine the present status of the CDM regarding technology demands for developed countries. To this end, six countries among South Korea’s priority partner countries were selected-Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Chile, Peru, and Mongolia. The results of this study can be used to establish a response strategy for new market mechanisms based on the technology demands of developing countries in the future, and can further provide implications for the development of domestic advanced climate technology companies.