What’s New
Secretary General of the National Assembly suggests installing a ‘climate clock’ at every parliament
- May 02, 2024
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Secretary General of the National Assembly suggests
installing a ‘climate clock’ at every parliament
- Secretary General expects radical development of parliamentary democracy through AI National Assembly
- Delivers a presentation entitled “In the News: Innovations at Parliament” at the Association of Secretaries
General of Parliaments’ (ASGP) Spring 2024 session
Secretary General of the National Assembly Baek Jae-hyun introduced innovative cases of parliamentary democracy from the Republic of Korea and suggested forming a “special committee on the climate crisis” as a permanent standing committee of parliament and a “Climate Clock” within every parliament worldwide during his March 25 presentation at the Spring 2024 session of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Secretary General Baek noted two paradigm shifts that are affecting parliaments globally. First is a shift in the parliamentary environment prompted by technological progress such as the growing use of big data and artificial intelligence; and second is the need to elevate the responsibility of parliaments to address the climate crisis. As a result, parliaments are now forced to embrace novel innovation tasks, he underscored.
“The Korean National Assembly has consistently strived to align itself with the ongoing global digital transformation,” he said, explaining that more than 50 online systems provide National Assembly members, staff and the public with convenient, timely access to a wealth of parliamentary information. Baek added, “The National Assembly has already established an AI parliamentary support system to aid in the comparison of legal provisions and analysis of similar bills, while also launching an automatic captioning system for the live broadcast of standing committee meetings.”
Secretary General expressed hopes for ethical and effective digital and AI parliaments that will ensure the accountability, transparency and openness of politics, and pave the way for revolutionary progress in parliamentary democracy.
Moreover, Baek underscored the pressing need for all parliaments worldwide to provide innovative responses to the climate crisis that threatens humanity’s survival, given that the climate outlook is more dire than previously feared despite the adoption of the Paris Agreement.
To foster practical engagement with the climate crisis at the parliamentary level, he proposed establishing a permanent standing committee on the climate crisis. “By establishing a permanent committee dedicated to continuous discussion of climate bills, and by giving it the proper authority in terms of legislative and budgetary affairs, we can promote more timely enactment of climate response legislation,” he said.
Finally, Secretary General Baek suggested the installation of a “climate clock” at every parliament worldwide. “As of March 25, 2024, we have only 5 years and 119 days until the average global temperature reaches 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels,” he said, emphasizing that “our parliaments must take care of our Earth — with the mindset of caring parents. To this end, every parliament around the globe must become more actively involved in climate action.”
Session participants showed robust interest in Baek’s presentation. They concurred with the need to expand information-sharing and legislative democracy through digital and AI parliaments and reinforce legislative responsibility and efforts in response to the climate crisis.
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