Asia's First Climate Lawsuit: Environment Minister Says Climate Goals Are Not Unconstitutional

28th Han Hwajin Minister Press Briefing
"Korea's 2030 NDC Target is Ambitious"

Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment, is speaking to reporters on the 28th. Photo by Ministry of Environment

Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment, expressed the view that the constitutional petition, known as Asia's first climate lawsuit, is not unconstitutional. Environmental groups argue that the government's greenhouse gas reduction targets are grossly insufficient to lower the global average temperature, thereby violating the obligation to protect fundamental rights and the equality rights of future generations. However, Minister Han countered that the government has established ambitious carbon neutrality goals.

On the 28th, Minister Han met with reporters at the Government Complex Sejong and was asked, "Can you firmly say that the current climate goals are not unconstitutional?" She responded, "It is difficult to see it as unconstitutional," adding, "Did the (greenhouse gas) reduction targets directly cause a violation of fundamental rights? No." She further questioned, "Are (government environmental policies) clearly inadequate and insufficient for the climate crisis?" and emphasized, "Since it cannot be seen that way, the duty to protect has not been violated."

The Constitutional Court is consolidating and reviewing four constitutional petitions known as Asia's first climate lawsuit. This lawsuit began in March 2020 when 19 youth climate activists from Youth Climate Action filed a constitutional petition against the Minister of Environment and the Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. On the 23rd of last month, a public hearing was held for the first time in over four years. At this hearing, intense debates took place over whether the Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Basic Act can uphold the Paris Climate Agreement and whether it infringes on citizens' fundamental rights.

Environmental groups maintain that the government's carbon emission reduction targets shirk responsibility. The government set the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 2018 levels by 2030, but this is argued to be insufficient to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. They also claim that this shifts the burden onto future generations, violating the right to life, equality rights, and the duty to protect.

In response, Minister Han refuted that the NDC is insufficient. She explained, "When setting the 2030 NDC, we listened to diverse voices from stakeholders," adding, "At that time, the 2030 target was considered ambitious." She also stated, "We will take follow-up measures regarding the climate crisis constitutional petition after reviewing the results."

Regarding the upcoming 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand (Jeon-gi-bon), she was reserved, saying, "The request has not come in yet." The Jeon-gi-bon includes domestic electricity demand and supply methods. Although led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, it also covers whether to build new nuclear power plants and the share of renewable energy use, thus impacting the achievement of carbon neutrality goals. Lee Young-seok, Director of Climate Change Policy at the Ministry of Environment, who was present, mentioned, "The Jeon-gi-bon is at the draft stage," and added, "Once the actual plan is released, the Ministry of Environment's opinions will be actively exchanged."

Minister Han emphasized the policy on reducing single-use products, stating, "Single-use products will not be forcibly reduced through regulations or fines but will be voluntarily decreased," and affirmed, "The policy direction and will are firm." She added, "I will report on related achievements with statistics in June."

Regarding criticism that a landfill site to replace the metropolitan area has not yet been selected, she said, "The application deadline is the 25th of next month, so we are waiting," and added, "We are simultaneously making efforts to minimize the intake volume at currently used landfills, so stable disposal of metropolitan area waste is possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.