South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that most of the country’s climate goals are unconstitutional, handing a historic victory to young environmental activists who wept with joy on the courthouse steps.
The case is the first of its kind in Asia, brought by children and adolescents who named a fetus as the main complainant. The case claimed that South Korea’s legally binding climate commitments are inadequate and incomplete, violating their constitutionally guaranteed human rights.
“The Constitutional Court just ruled that it is unconstitutional to have no government target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 2031 to 2050,” said Yoon Hyeon-jeong, one of the young activists involved.
“It was decided that our right to live safe from the climate crisis must be guaranteed,” she said. She was barely able to finish her statement when she choked up.
After the hearing, legal representatives for the complainants said the court ruled that the government’s limited climate targets violate the constitution because they “do not adequately protect people’s basic rights.”
The case — known as “Woodpecker et al. v. South Korea” because the fetus, now a baby, was given a nickname while still in the womb — involved four petitions filed by children.
In 2021, South Korea made a legally binding commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 290 million tons by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
To meet this goal, the country must reduce emissions by 5.4 percent per year from 2023 – a target they have so far failed to meet.
Yoon Se-jong, a lawyer for the complainants, said that as a result of the ruling, Seoul must now revise its climate targets.
“The National Assembly and the Government of the Republic of Korea must revise the regulations related to the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and introduce greenhouse gas reduction targets while taking into account the rights of future generations,” Yun said.
He said, “With today’s decision we have confirmed that climate change is a matter of our fundamental rights and everyone has the right to be protected from it.”
“Ordinary people like us have made it here. We led a constitutional petition to protect our rights without relying on power and authority. It took us five years,” said Kim Seo-gyeong, a 21-year-old youth climate activist.
Kim was part of the group that filed the first case in 2020, and he said the ruling was a validation for young people who find themselves “living in a climate crisis.”
‘Wish fulfilled’
Seoul’s Environment Ministry said in a statement that it respected the court’s decision.
The ministry said it plans to “faithfully implement follow-up measures.”
The complainants had argued that if Seoul does not move quickly on climate goals, future generations will not only have to live in a deteriorating environment but will also have to bear the burden of drastically reducing greenhouse gases.
The case claims that this would mean the state had breached its duty to protect their fundamental rights.
Similar climate cases have been successful globally.
One youth-led effort recently succeeded in the US state of Montana, while another is being heard at the European High Court.
In Germany, climate targets in 2021 were ruled inadequate and unconstitutional, and lawyer Lee Chi-sun said the two cases were very similar.
“Just as Germany strengthened its 2040 reduction targets and revised its 2045 targets following its decision, we expect Seoul’s 2030 reduction targets to be strengthened” and expanded, he said.
Other cases have not fared so well globally – in May a lawsuit filed by children in California over alleged government failures to curb pollution was dismissed.
Thursday’s ruling is the first in Asia to question a country’s national greenhouse gas reduction targets. “And this court decision may set an important precedent for other jurisdictions in Asia to rule on similar cases,” said Lin Yan-ting, a climate activist who is also a complainant in a similar case filed in Taiwan in January.
Speaking outside the Seoul court, 12-year-old complainant Han Jeh – who started the case when she was 10 – said the verdict was “like a wish has come true.”
“Despite the climate crisis, we have the right to live safely and happily. This right must be protected at all costs and must not be violated by anyone,” said Han Jeh.
“So I wanted to show people through this lawsuit how much we (young people) know about climate change and how deeply we care about it.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
