On Aug. 29, last year, representatives from the Youth Climate Lawsuit, Citizens' Climate Lawsuit, Baby Climate Lawsuit, and Carbon Neutral Basic Plan Lawsuit are holding a joint press conference for the final ruling on the Climate Constitution Petition in front of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. /Courtesy of News1

Last year, the Constitutional Court's ruling on climate justice was introduced to the world through international academic journals.

A research team led by Professor Lee Gil-won of Sungkyunkwan University and Professor Park Tae-jung of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology analyzed last year's Constitutional Court decision on the unconstitutionality of the Basic Carbon Neutrality Act from an international environmental law perspective and published the findings in the international academic journal Nature Human Behaviour.

The ruling analyzed by the researchers is the decision made on August 29, 2024. The youth-led group 'Youth Climate Action' claimed that the greenhouse gas reduction targets in the government's Basic Carbon Neutrality Act violate the rights to life and a healthy environment for young people, and filed a constitutional complaint. In June 2022, a group of babies formed a climate lawsuit group, including a 20-week-old fetus nicknamed 'Woodpecker.' The plaintiffs argued, 'Future generations, who will be the main actors on this land decades from now, are fully entitled to hold the current state accountable.'

The Constitutional Court accepted the plaintiffs' opinions. It viewed that the Basic Carbon Neutrality Act lacks reduction targets for 2031-2049, imposing undue burdens in the future. The court demanded legislative supplementation from the National Assembly by February 28, 2026.

The researchers assessed that this ruling holds significant implications beyond Korea, globally. They emphasized, 'This precedent lays the constitutional foundation for establishing legally binding long-term climate goals, transcending short-term policy-level climate responses,' and noted, 'It demonstrated that the essence of climate change response lies not merely in administrative measures but in achieving intergenerational equity and democratic accountability.'

They also stated that this ruling should serve as an opportunity to transform Korea's climate governance into a more transparent and accountable system.

References

Nature Human Behaviour (2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02174-w