South Korea’s Constitutional Court commenced hearing on Tuesday in a case accusing the government of failing to protect the well-being of 200 people, including dozens of young environmental activists and children, by neglecting to address climate change.
The case, the first such climate-related litigation from Asia, includes a petition filed by children, infants, and a fetus, among others, dating from 2020.
The hearing comes weeks after Europe’s top human rights court ruled that the Swiss government failed in its duty to combat climate change effectively, thereby violating the human rights of its citizens.
Climate lawsuits have become a global trend due to dissatisfaction regarding the government’s policies despite warnings from experts that catastrophic events or irreversible impact will occur if the global temperature rises beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.
South Korea’s economy relies heavily on fossil fuels linked to rising temperatures for growth.
“South Korea’s current climate plans are not sufficient to keep the temperature increase within 1.5 degrees Celsius, thus violating the state’s obligation to protect fundamental rights,” the plaintiffs said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Lawyers for the government contended that the authorities were diligently working to reduce carbon emissions and not violate the fundamental rights of its people.
They added that the government did not discriminate against young people and that annual goals on carbon reduction could be adjusted.
Last year, South Korea revised down its 2030 targets for greenhouse gas reductions in the industrial sector but kept its national goal of cutting emissions by 40% of 2018 levels, describing the move as a reasonable change.
