President Chung speaking at the APRU gathering of university presidents and leaders on KU's responses to sustainability and climate change 

President Jin Taek Chung delivered a presentation at the 26th Annual Association of Pacific Rim Universities Presidents' Meeting on July 8, 2022, at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, on the topic of achieving carbon neutrality. The gathering of member university presidents was held under the theme of "Reconnecting in a Sustainable World," with President Chung speaking at the session devoted to issues related to "Sustainability and Climate Change."

President Chung's presentation shared how Korea University will achieve carbon neutrality and fulfill its environmental and climate related commitments by 2045. This will be accomplished by making a combination of direct policy changes impacting operations on KU's campuses and hospitals while modeling and encouraging responsible behaviors among faculty, staff and students. He outlined four main pillars of KU's plan, which included achieving energy independence by minimizing energy usage; ecology and sink by effectively dealing with school waste to achieve zero release; by encouraging entrepreneurship promotion to foster creative thinking among faculty and students about carbon neutral solutions; and education open innovation focusing on engaging students and the local community, while fostering experts in carbon neutrality and ESG-related businesses.

The APRU Annual Presidents' Meeting 2022 attracted Presidents and university leaders from 60 universities from across the Asia-Pacific region. This was the first in-person gathering of member university presidents since 2019. As a network of leading universities linking the Americas, Asia, and Australasia, APRU brings together thought leaders, researchers, and policy-makers to exchange ideas and collaborate on practical solutions to the challenges of the 21st century.