South Korea issues urgent heat warnings as country bakes in highest temperatures ever recorded | The Independent

Nature & Climate Perspective

**Extreme heatwaves in South Korea underscore escalating physical and reversal risks for regional land-based carbon sinks. **

• Unprecedented thermal stress reaching 42.5°C accelerates localized canopy dieback and severely impairs forest biodiversity in temperate East Asian ecosystems.
• Extreme heat impairs ecosystem gross primary productivity, accelerating soil organic carbon loss and threatening localized LULUCF baseline stability.
• Increased frequency of severe heat events raises wildfire risks, challenging the ICVCM Core Carbon Principle on Permanence and buffer pool adequacy for regional nature-based projects.

Market & Policy Outlook

**Record-breaking temperature extremes will accelerate government mandates for grid resilience and corporate physical risk accounting. **

• Escalating climate impacts prompt South Korean regulators to tighten emergency adaptation policies, impacting industrial energy dispatch and municipal infrastructure standards.
• Acute physical risks from extreme heat increase operational costs and insurance premiums, threatening corporate asset valuations without verified resilience protocols.
• Multinational entities operating in South Korea face heightened pressure under SBTi alignment to report acute Scope 3 supply chain disruptions driven by climate extremes.