South Korea’s top court says climate law does not protect basic rights By Reuters

Near Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s top court said on Thursday its climate change law did not protect basic human rights and lacked targets to protect future generations, in a landmark ruling after activists accused the government of failing to effectively addressed climate change.

About 200 plaintiffs, including young climate activists and even some children, have filed petitions with the Constitutional Court since 2020, claiming that their government is violating the human rights of its citizens by not doing enough on climate change.

The court asked the legislature to revise the carbon neutrality act by the end of February 2026, recognizing that the existing law’s emissions targets are unconstitutional, violating the obligation to protect fundamental rights, as well as failing to protect future generations against the climate. crisis.

Climate advocacy groups said it was the first ruling by a high court on government action on climate change in Asia, potentially setting a precedent in a region where similar lawsuits have been filed in Taiwan and Japan.

In April, Europe’s highest human rights court ruled that the Swiss government had violated the rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change.

The Korean court’s sentence was met with cheers, tears and applause from plaintiffs, activists and lawyers, who chanted slogans such as “The verdict is not the end, but the beginning.”

“I hope today’s decision will lead to a bigger change so that children don’t have to file this kind of constitutional appeal,” said Han Je-ah, 12, one of the plaintiffs.

“The climate crisis has a huge impact on our lives and we have no time to delay,” she told reporters after the ruling.

Kim Young-hee, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, called the verdict “an important decision for the reduction of greenhouse gases of the entire society.”

The court said South Korea’s carbon neutrality act, passed in 2010 and later revised to set emissions targets by 2030 and the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, did not present “any quantitative level” for reduction targets between 2031 and 2049.

“Since there is no mechanism that can effectively ensure gradual and continuous reductions until 2050, it provides for reduction targets that would shift an excessive burden into the future,” the court said in a statement.

In a statement, the Environment Ministry said it respects the verdict and will implement further measures.

Koh Moon-hyun, a law professor at Soongsil University, told Reuters the decision could prompt changes in other countries.

“The court must have looked at the judgments in Europe and changed its position,” he said. “It created a chance for South Korea to shed its climate villain moniker.”

Scientists say a rise in global temperatures of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average will trigger a catastrophic and irreversible impact on the planet, from the melting of ice sheets to the collapse of ocean currents.

South Korea is trying to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, but remains the second-biggest coal polluter among G20 countries after Australia, data shows, with slow uptake of renewables.

Last year, it revised down its 2030 targets for reducing greenhouse gases in the industrial sector, but kept its national target of cutting emissions by 40% from 2018 levels.

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