The 2026 June 3 local elections, a cornerstone of democracy, are heating up. However, every election season, communities across the nation suffer from the massive volume of banners and campaign brochures that flood the streets.
According to the Ministry of Environment, the June 13, 2018 local elections generated 138,100 banners, equivalent to 9,220 tons, of which only 33.5%, or 3,093 tons, was recycled. In the April 15, 2020 general election, waste banners numbered 35,100, with the recycling rate dropping further to 23.4%. In the recent 2024 general election, waste banners amounted to 2,574 tons, with a recycling rate of merely 30%. Moreover, the Public Official Election Act revised in 2018 doubled the number of permissible banners, contributing to a surge from 13,980 banners in the 2016 National Assembly election to 30,580 in 2020. While one side emphasizes carbon neutrality policies, the other pursues policies that contradict them.
With the local elections just two months away, the Middle East conflict between the United States and Iran has created supply instability for naphtha, a key raw material for banners. Production costs for a single banner (5m × 0.9m standard) have reportedly surged from an average of 60,000 won to 90,000 won ($44 to $66). This sharp increase in election costs raises serious fairness concerns, as major parties with ample funding can absorb the costs or receive reimbursement later, while minor parties and newcomers struggle to afford the increased expenses.
Unlike Korea, street banners and posters are rarely seen in the United States, Europe, and other major countries. Germany has conducted online election campaigns through Facebook and Twitter for policy promotion and information distribution for over a decade. France reimburses election costs only when candidates use eco-friendly paper materials for campaign literature.
Korea currently bears the stigma of being one of the three major environmental offenders alongside Russia and Canada. According to the EDGAR 2025 report from the EU Joint Research Centre database, Korea ranks in the top 10 globally for carbon emissions, while its policy efforts to combat climate change rank 63rd out of 67 surveyed countries, near the bottom.
However, as the saying goes, "crisis is opportunity." The surge in oil and naphtha prices due to the Middle East conflict could serve as a catalyst for establishing eco-friendly election campaigns. The COVID-19 pandemic completely transformed Korean university education from offline to digital. According to the Korea Education and Research Information Service, the number of remote courses at general universities and education colleges nationwide increased by approximately 2,711% in 2020 compared to 2019. This remarkable change was possible because the Ministry of Education abolished the 20% cap on course credit completion through remote learning.
In this era of climate crisis, carbon-emitting election culture must transform into "digital" and "low-carbon" election practices. This includes digitalizing campaign materials, installing integrated information boards with QR codes in key locations instead of street posters, mandating eco-friendly materials for banners, and requiring candidates or parties that produce campaign materials to partially bear post-election recycling costs.
As civilian chairman of the Government Performance Evaluation Committee under the Prime Minister, one of my key responsibilities is government innovation. True government innovation must start from grassroots local autonomy. Neighborhood leaders should be elected through direct resident elections or resident recommendation committees rather than appointed by local government heads. Simultaneously, the participatory budgeting system should be further activated so neighborhood leaders work for residents by allocating more budgets to welfare, environment, and cultural needs.
According to Forbes' official 2025 data, Korea ranks 11th globally in soft power. However, its Environmental Performance Index ranking at the bottom among 38 OECD member countries reflects policymakers' low awareness of environmental issues. We must stop viewing nature as a mere tool and recognize that human-nature coexistence is essential for sustainable development.
*The author is Distinguished Professor at Catholic University of Korea and served as President of the Korean Association for Public Administration (2013) and Director of the Korea Environment Institute (2014-2017).*
