SEOUL, August 20, 2009 (AFP) - The United Nations on Thursday urged the world to expand investment in the environment and praised South Korea's commitment to a green economic future.

In a report on Seoul's policy, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reiterated calls for an investment of one percent of global GDP or about $750-billion over the next two years, to move towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy.

Moving the global economy away from dependence on fossil fuels and unsustainable use of limited resources was essential, it said.

"It is a fundamental requirement for the survival of our economic and social systems in the 21st century," the report said.

South Korea, which based its dramatic post-war growth on rapid industrialisation, last year unveiled an $84-billion five-year plan to develop environmentally friendly industries and use them as a growth engine for the wider economy.

The "green growth" plan aims to make the country one of the world's seven strongest nations in terms of energy efficiency and green technology investment by 2020.

Two-thirds of the world's green stimulus packages had been committed in Asia, led by China, Japan, South Korea and Australia, the UNEP noted.

"While many countries have factored some level of environmental investment in their economic stimulus packages, it is in Asia where the green economy has seen the biggest green light," executive director Achim Steiner said in a statement.

South Korea's package, which amounts to around two percent of GDP, had "the potential of creating a domino effect on the other major Asian economies," the report said.

Seoul's commitment also offered a chance to link development policy with the need to tackle climate change, it said.

"If successful, this would prove that changes in economic systems can equally deliver prosperity and respond adequately to the challenge of climate change."