The government held a meeting Tuesday to discuss preparations for an international summit on climate change and sustainable development, which South Korea will host late next month.

Officials from the foreign, environment, finance and trade ministries and other agencies attended the sixth preparatory session for the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals summit to be held virtually from May 30-31, the foreign ministry said.

In the meeting, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong underscored the need to implement the country's enhanced commitment to emissions reduction unveiled by President Moon Jae-in last week during a US-hosted climate summit.

"Carbon-neutral goals and policies must be supported so that we can lead international discussions," Chung said. "As the president has expressed the resolve to step up climate action, we should work to materialize the action plans," he said.

Environment Minister Han Jeoung-ae said that the transition to carbon neutrality must not be a "one-way message" from developed countries, calling for efforts to provide technical support to developing countries.

In last week's virtual climate summit hosted by US President Joe Biden, Moon said South Korea will reduce the emissions by 24.4 percent by 2030 from the 2017 levels and additionally raise the nationally determined contribution, which will be reported to the UN within this year. (Yonhap)