south korea

On March 13, 2020, inspired by the Juliana v. United States youth plaintiffs, nineteen Korean youth, all members of Youth 4 Climate Action, filed a climate change case against their government in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea. The youth allege that South Korea’s Framework Act on Low Carbon, Green Growth gives authority to the President to set greenhouse (GHG) emission reduction targets without providing a specifically defined scope for those targets. The youth also challenge the President’s abolishment of the 2020 GHG reduction target, which it was already failing to meet as well as the President’s 2030 reduction target which is both ineffective and insufficient. The youth allege that the government’s actions violate their rights to live, to pursue happiness and to resist human extinction as well as the right of the next generation to live in a healthy “and pleasant” environment and to receive equal protection of the law. They also argue that the government has breached its duty to prevent disasters and to protect citizens from the dangers of environmental disasters. The youth are asking the court to declare the government’s conduct unconstitutional and to order the government to correct the unconstitutional situation.

The case is currently pending. Lawyers with Our Children’s Trust are consulting with the Korean legal team on the best available science to submit as evidence in the proceedings. This case is similar to Juliana in that the youth plaintiffs seek protection of their fundamental rights, but it is different in that it challenges the adequacy of Korean government’s GHG emission reduction targets instead of the government’s affirmative conduct that causes climate change.