Not Enough

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South Korea’s constitutional court ruled this week that part of the country’s climate law was unconstitutional for failing to protect the rights of future generations, a landmark decision that is considered the first climate litigation victory of its kind in Asia, the Guardian reported.

The case began in 2020 when the top court began reviewing a series of complaints filed by more than 250 plaintiffs, including the Youth 4 Climate Action, a group associated with the global school climate strike movement.

The plaintiffs alleged that the South Korean government’s greenhouse gas reduction goals were inadequate and violated citizens’ fundamental rights, especially those of future generations.

South Korea’s Carbon Neutral Act, enacted in 2010, required a minimum 35-percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 compared with 2018 levels. The government set a goal of a 40-percent reduction, but plaintiffs argued this was insufficient to address the impact of climate change.

On Thursday, the court said that it did not find fault with the 2030 goal, but noted that the lack of legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets or the period between 2031 and 2049 violated the constitutional rights of future generations, the New York Times wrote.

This absence of long-term targets meant that future generations would bear an excessive burden of climate change impacts, it added.

In its verdict, the court also ordered the South Korean National Assembly to revise the climate law by February 2026 to include specific, long-term carbon reduction targets.

Despite disappointment over parts of the ruling not being upheld, the plaintiffs welcomed the decision as “meaningful progress in protecting everyone’s rights beyond the climate crisis.”

Government officials said they would respect the verdict and take follow-up measures.

The decision echoes a similar 2021 ruling by Germany’s federal constitutional court, which also found that inadequate long-term climate goals violated the rights of future generations.

Observers noted that the ruling is expected to influence climate litigation and policy in other Asian countries, such as Japan and Taiwan, where similar legal actions are underway.