South Korea: Weak climate targets violated young people’s rights
Reading time: 1 minute
South Korea’s top court has found that the government’s climate targets are too weak to protect the constitutional rights of younger people in a landmark case brought by hundreds of children and young people.
Woodpecker et al v South Korea was brought on behalf of 254 plaintiffs, including ‘Woodpecker’, an unborn child at the time the case was filed.
Under a 2021 law, South Korea was obliged to reduce carbon emissions by 290 million tons by 2030 and to achieve net-zero by 2050.
However, the country has failed to meet the annual 5.4 per cent emissions reduction target necessary to meet its goals.
As a result of the ruling from South Korea’s Constitutional Court, the government will now have to enforce even tougher targets.
Youn Se-jong, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said: “The National Assembly and the government of the Republic of Korea will have to revise regulations related to the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and present greenhouse gas reduction goals considering the rights of future generations.
“With today’s ruling, we have confirmed that climate change is a matter of our fundamental rights and that everyone has the right to be safe from it.”
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
