Sustainability and Survival: North Korea’s Struggle With Climate Change

North Korea is at a crossroads. Its already weak economy continues to suffer as a result of the ongoing pandemic even while natural disasters wreak havoc throughout the country. Severe rains and flooding over the past year have forced Pyongyang to take a stronger stance on climate change and adopt a range of environmental policies for the sake of the country’s future. Although a step in the right direction, it remains to be seen whether the North Korean government can live up to its promises of a greener future.

A Climate Emergency

In 2020 alone, four powerful typhoons battered North Korea in quick succession in the summer months, resulting in serious damage to homes, infrastructure, and agricultural land. North Korea’s Kangwon, North Hwanghae, South Hwanghae, North Pyongan, and South Pyongan provinces were particularly affected – three of which are considered the country’s breadbasket and provide more than half of the country’s rice and crop production.

In the aftermath of the typhoons, the North Korean government set out to better educate the public on how to prevent further damage as well as how to cope with similar climate emergencies. According to the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), Workers’ Party officials conducted an “intensive information campaign” aimed at the public while implementing “immediate and thoroughgoing measures” to deal with the crisis.

The situation was taken seriously at the highest levels of government, with Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un going as far as to convene an enlarged meeting of the Executive Policy Council of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party to organize a recovery campaign to address the impact of the natural disasters that hit South and North Hamgyong provinces. Kim visited the disaster-stricken areas in person, emphasizing the importance of studying the causes and impact of such climate-related crises while calling for increased “single-minded unity” for the recovery efforts.

The situation was dire indeed. The summer of 2020 saw the most rainfall many provinces had seen in four decades. According to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), North Korea’s food shortages further increased in 2020 as a result of heavy flooding. As a result of the serious situation, the FAO added North Korea to its list of 45 countries requiring external assistance for food that year. Moreover, a South Korean report concluded that the North would grow only 80 percent of the 5.5 million tons of food it would need in 2020.

Besides a reduced crop yield, North Korea also suffered from serious infrastructure damage throughout the country as a result of the typhoons. Thousands of homes were believed to be destroyed, displacing countless people and leaving them homeless. One key issue, however, was the fact that many of the destroyed homes were actually newly-built only four years ago. This suggests that North Korea’s massively propagandized construction efforts over the past years were more for show than anything else.

North Korea had rebuilt thousands of homes as a result of damage caused by the 2016 Typhoon Lionrock. Although the work was conducted swiftly and on a large scale, the quality of the materials used was clearly not durable enough to withstand future natural disasters. After the 2020 floods, Kim himself admitted the need for the country to improve its construction methods to prevent severe flood-related damage in the future.

From Bad to Worse

While the 2020 typhoons caused severe damage to North Korea on several fronts, the natural disasters did not stop there. Disasters have continued this year, resulting in a series of problems that continue to plague the country.

In February, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification reported an updated estimate on North Korea’s situation, stating the country was facing a food shortage of more than 1 million tons mainly as a result of heavy flooding in the previous year. The situation only worsened in the summer of 2021.

Instead of heavy rains, this year, North Korea’s summer started off dry. The country was hit by a severe drought in July, with state media reporting serious damage to agricultural production as crops dried out, further worsening the country’s “food crisis.” According to North Korea’s figures, total rainfall for the year up until mid-July was the “second lowest” since recordkeeping began in 1981.

With the country already facing record-level food-shortages as a result of its pandemic-prevention policies, Pyongyang declared an official “food crisis” in June. In Kim’s own words: “People’s food situation is now getting tense as the agricultural sector failed to fulfill its grain production plan due to the damage by typhoon last year.” North Korea rarely – if ever – publicly admits its own mistakes or failures, thus further highlighting the severity of the situation this year.

Just as the government was laying out its plans to tackle the food emergency, a new series of floods hit the country in August. Floods washed away homes, roads, and bridges along North Korea’s east coast, while state media reported “dozens” of deaths as a result of the heavy rains.

In September, Kim presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, at which he stressed the importance of “preserving land and environment conducive to the eternal prosperity of the country” and singled out land management as “the most priority task in carrying out the party's economic policy.”

“The disastrous weather is getting ever more pronounced worldwide and our country is also lying vulnerable to its danger,” Kim said at the meeting.

Kim further “underlined the need to take thorough-going measures to overcome abnormal climate, the danger of which has become higher in recent years, and to work out active and ambitious plan to conclude river improvement, afforestation for erosion control, dyke maintenance and tide embankment projects [all sic],” according to North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun.

Doubling Down on Environmental Policy

With North Korea suffering humanitarian and economic damage as a result of back-to-back natural disasters, Pyongyang is doubling down on its efforts at implementing a range of environmental policies.

Although many regard North Korea as a rogue regime with no ties to the international community, this isn’t actually the case. In fact, North Korea is a party to both the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris agreement. In a report submitted by North Korea to the U.N. this year, Pyongyang pledged to “actively join the international efforts to protect the global environment” while continuing to develop its own domestic policies related to climate change.

In the report, North Korea recognizes that “continued natural disasters by flood, drought, typhoon and heat wave have affected severe impacts on the people’s life and health and economic development” while lamenting the country’s exposure in recent years “to negative impacts such as reduction in agricultural production, destruction of agricultural infrastructure, degradation of soil and water resources.” To tackle these issues, Pyongyang has come up with various policy plans.

In order to better prepare for natural disasters and prevent severe damage in the future, North Korea adopted the 2019-2030 National Disaster Reduction Strategy (NDRS) “to protect human health and life and reduce disaster risks.” According to North Korea, the main goal of the strategy is to “complete the rapid response system for minimizing the disaster risks by institutionalizing the nationwide disaster management, raising the public awareness and enhancing the material supply capacity.” As for the results of the plan so far, the report states that a nationwide crisis management system was established in 2020 to provide early warnings and real time information on potential disasters through mass media, which led to a “substantial improvement” of the country’s crisis response capacity.

North Korea also has a National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Reduction Plan. According to Pyongyang’s U.N. report, by 2030, North Korea is aiming for a 15.63 percent reduction in GHG emissions (equivalent to 36 million tons) under its current economic situation or a 50.34 percent (just under 157 million tons) reduction if international assistance is provided. The report also states that the GHG Emission Reduction Plan should be implemented and updated “on a long term basis as the climate changes rapidly, together with enhanced international cooperation.”

Also included in the report are several sections on North Korea’s policies regarding marine conservation, forests, and biodiversity. According to the report, North Korea is currently taking various measures to prevent marine pollution, protect marine species, and to more sustainably use marine resources by combining fishing and cultivation together.

The report makes mention of North Korea’s efforts in the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of territorial and inland freshwater ecosystems, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands. North Korea first introduced its “forest recovery campaign” in 2015 to undo damage caused by decades of deforestation. According to its own figures, the campaign has so far helped North Korea to reduce non-forest tree land area from 10.6 percent in 2010 to 5.5 percent in 2019. The government is aiming to afforest about 1.4 million hectares of mountain by 2024, which is expected to create a GHG emission reduction capacity of more than 10 million tons per year, according to the report.

Regarding biodiversity, the government is pledging to continue its efforts to prevent the extinction of rare species while protecting vulnerable groups. It will do this, it says, through conducting regular surveys to keep track of the types and number of species in different environments throughout the country.

The report submitted to the U.N. also highlights North Korea’s efforts at raising awareness of environmental policy and climate change through education. In primary and secondary schools, the national curricula now include “conceptual contents on negative impacts of climate change” while “climate change mitigation, adaptation and early warning” are being taught at universities. Beyond schooling, the North Korean government is also stepping up its efforts at disseminating information on climate change through mass media. This year the government conducted rare live, on-site reporting of the typhoons and the damage that came as a result. Repeated references regarding climate change and natural disasters in newspapers have also increased awareness on the issue among the general public.

Risks and Feasibility

Although North Korea’s plans for sustainability sound promising, it is difficult to independently corroborate the figures and data put forth in the report to the U.N. Moreover, despite the issue receiving much more attention in recent years than in the past, it remains difficult to say that environmental policy is a top priority of the North Korean government. Pyongyang’s immediate focus remains military defense and the economy, with policies related to the environment lower on the list.

There are several issues that could prevent North Korea from fully implementing its environmental policies. The most obvious and immediate problem is the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, North Korea’s borders have been closed since January 2020. This was followed by most foreigners having to leave the country, even NGOs and aid workers. This makes it difficult – if not impossible – for North Korea to coordinate its environmental-related policies with external actors.

Another key issue Pyongyang has to face when implementing such policies is how to cover the massive costs associated with related projects. By now, it’s no secret that the North Korean economy is weak and in an increasingly dire, vulnerable situation. The government lacks funds not only due to its decision to close the border with China but also due to heavy sanctions imposed on it by the international community.

At the moment, Pyongyang has few ways of bringing in much-needed resources. When it comes to allocating whatever does come in, it’s unlikely the first priority will be environmental policies. In fact, one of the few ways North Korea has been able to earn foreign currency has been through exporting coal to China. Despite sanctions, various reports have pointed to North Korea continuing to sell coal to its northern neighbor due to both Chinese demand and North Korea’s desperate need for funds.

Moreover, a lack of diplomatic progress with the United States has also resulted in stalemate in inter-Korean rapprochement. This matters as it prevents South Korea from implementing its many proposals for joint economic and environmental projects with the North. The leaders of the two Koreas had agreed in 2018 to “to actively promote south-north environment cooperation so as to protect and restore the natural ecology, and as a first step to endeavor to achieve substantial results in the currently on-going forestry cooperation.” Such cooperation, however, has been limited since then.

Another issue relates to North Korea’s lack of adequate equipment and materials to (re)build its infrastructure and housing complexes in a sustainable, safe way. Due to the ongoing border closure with China, a lack of construction equipment has not only resulted in delays for many projects but it also means that the quality of new roads, bridges, buildings, and houses will – as in the past – not be sturdy enough to withstand future natural disasters.

Lastly, it remains to be seen whether the government’s efforts at spreading awareness about climate change will have any significant impact in the short and long term. Although North Korean officials have been stepping up efforts to educate the public on various environmental issues, locals have much bigger, more pressing concerns to deal with. This is particularly the case regarding food shortages. The actions ordinary people can take to prevent natural disasters from negatively impacting food production are limited, especially without government support. It is therefore up to the government to invest significant resources in building strong dams, dykes, irrigation systems, and the like to prevent massive loss as a result of floods.

Opportunity for International Cooperation

Over the last year, Kim Jong Un has repeatedly made it clear how serious a problem climate change is for his country. He has admitted the need for a stronger focus on environmental policy as well as his government’s shortcomings in this area. Given the rare public discourse taking place regarding the issue of climate change, the international community should see such developments as an opportunity to engage Pyongyang.

Climate change is not an issue affecting only North Korea. It is a problem that affects every corner of the world. It is thus imperative for the international community to separate politics from cooperation in other areas with North Korea, such as environmental policy. Once the pandemic permits, the U.N., NGOs, and other humanitarian actors and climate experts should actively engage the North Korean government to come to an agreement to cooperate on North Korea’s environmental projects.

For this to be possible, particularly with regard to importing needed materials, the U.N. Security Council must allow for the exemption or loosening of certain sanctions that hinder such forms of cooperation between North Korea and the international community. In the long term, such cooperation will be beneficial not just for ordinary North Korean people, but for the overall wellbeing of the planet and generations to come.