| What We Do | We aim at contributing to the conservation of ecological environment and construction of a society that is safe and cherishes human dignity through protecting consumers' rights and practicing eco-friendly consumption. |
| Location | Seoul, Republic of Korea |
| Member Since | 2018 |
| Audiences/Sector | Consumers/Communities, Students/Schools |
| Member Type | Member Organisation |
| Our Mission | Each and every small activity of our member consumers will convert today’s eco-destructive social-economic system into an everlasting eco-friendly system in the future. We are a non-commercial, non-governmental, and non-political civic group which consists of all the consumers participating. Money (market) and power (government) are not the only things needed for the sound and healthy development of our society. A new social idea should also be there to open up a new future. GCN is the civic group that creates that new social idea and supports its growth for better public interest. We are a consumer network that protects consumers' rights and profits. Concerning all the products and services provided in the global market, we consumers have a right to be safe, to truly know the products, to choose them correctly, to organise ourselves properly, to be informed in due course, to give influence to the providers and to be in a pleasant atmosphere. These rights, however, are often ignored as well as jeopardised due to profit-oriented suppliers and fierce competition in the markets. Towns, cities and all the places for our living should be protected against dangerous technologies which may jeopardise those fundamental rights and our quality of life. We are a civil volunteer work organisation and a membership movement group which is operated by voluntary and active participation of each and every member citizen. Modern people often feel alienated in spite of countless relationships in their society. GCN is the place where people who are practising harmonious life with nature gather together to practice their ego with self-determination in the ideal society of brotherhood cooperation. We are a global civic movement organisation that promotes solidarity and cooperation among global environmental groups, consumer organisations and civic groups for the international ecological and consumer issues created by worldwide economic order. |
| Areas of Work | We conduct campaigns for sustainable consumption providing information with green consumer guides. We foster green consumers in households, offices, schools and communities supporting action programmes to change lifestyles. We protect consumers’ rights, mainly in areas of health, ICT and food. |
| Success Stories | We helped Korean society know what green consumption is through campaigns such as green supermarkets, carrying shopping baskets, reducing packaging, reducing CO2 gas and energy, zero digital waste, non–powered transportation, reducing toxic and hazardous chemistry materials, green apartments, eco-tourism and others. We are recognised as a representative organisation in the area of green consumption, especially for households and youth. We are known as one of the main consumer organisations and civil organisations in Korea with 20 nationwide branches, and one of the main organisations covered by mass media. We created and operate the Korean Green Purchasing Network (KGPN). We contributed to enact what we call Green Purchasing Law and we have selected Green Products of the Year for 10 years. At the 3rd International Conference on Green Purchasing in 2009 we adopted the ‘Suwon Declaration’ to urge the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote green purchasing. We were selected as one of the ‘2017 Korea’s Top 100 Think Tanks’ in 5 sectors including economy and industry, politics and society, diplomacy and security, women and labour, and environment by The Hankyung Business Weekly. We scored the 9th in the environmental sector. |
| Collaboration Opportunities | We can collaborate in lifestyle change, youth activity, and global campaign. We would like to learn from the GAP International network about programmes of behaviour change for sustainability and share our own practices with the network. |
| Project Highlights | Green Angels: Green Angels is a youth eco-volunteer network that learns about environmental issues and carries out campaigns. In 2018 we had 104 teams across the nation with 1506 overall members consisting of secondary school students who took part in the Green Angels. There were also 23 school programs with 907 overall students who participated in terms of the Free Semester System. Green Products of the Year: Over the past 10 years we have selected Green Products of the Year as a executive office of KGPN. In the Green Products of the Year programme, products which are outstanding with regard to environmental and commercial value are selected by consumers from about 30 consumer organisations. Every year 20 to 30 products are selected among the 50 or so applicants. Green consumer certification programme: Since 2010 we have annually certified and awarded green consumers. More than 300 people accomplish our green consumer certification programme every year. Participants have to act on several campaigns from the 10 campaigns that were selected by the national council. The main campaigns in 2018 included carrying tumblers in place of disposable drinkware, reducing the contents of our refrigerators, and taking shorter showers, all to focus on the Earth Day Network's 2018 "End Plastic Pollution" campaign theme. Action on consumer protection: We have conducted over 500,000 sessions of consumer counselling and 100 group litigations and collective dispute mediations. |
| Visit | 한국어 버전: http://gcn.or.kr/ English version: http://cafe.gcn.or.kr/gcnenglish |
| Connect | Facebook: Green Consumers Network in Korea |
| Contact | [email protected] |