STORY: South Korean climate activists and plaintiffs rejoiced on Thursday (August 29) after the constitutional court ruled that the country’s climate change law needs more emission targets for 2031 and beyond.
About 200 plaintiffs including young climate activists and even some infants filed petitions to the constitutional court since 2020, accusing the government of deferring the task of reducing carbon emissions to future policymakers and younger generations.
Outside the constitutional courthouse, plaintiffs and activists chanted slogans like “the verdict is not the end, but the beginning!”.
“With the good results, I’ll work even harder to build an even better future. I’m really inspired and proud,” said 12-year-old plaintiff Han Je-ah. Another activist, Kim Bo-rim, shed tears of joy over the verdict but also expressed concerns that “progress is way too slow”.
The court said South Korea’s carbon neutrality act, enacted in 2010 and revised later to lay out emissions targets by 2030 and the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, failed to present “any quantitative levels” for the reductions targets between 2031 and 2049.
Climate advocacy groups said it was the first high court ruling on a government’s climate action in Asia, potentially setting a precedent in a region where similar lawsuits have been filed in Taiwan and Japan.
