South Korea's Climate Law Revision Criticized for Insufficient Targets Amid Global Youth Protests

South Korea's National Assembly is nearing a vote on a revised climate change law, but the proposed legislation faces strong criticism for its inadequate emission reduction targets. Despite a Constitutional Court ruling in August 2024 mandating revisions to address the infringement of future generations' rights, the current draft is seen by many as a continuation of "passing the buck" on climate action.

“

The calculation is postponed and the bill is passed on to the next person.

During public consultations in March-April, a significant majority of citizen representatives (77.9%) and youth delegates (75%) favored an "early reduction" pathway, which prioritizes steeper cuts in the near term to lessen the burden on future generations. However, the special climate committee's proposed amendment on August 13 outlines a "linear reduction" plan, where emissions decrease at a constant rate annually. This approach is criticized for not being ambitious enough to avert the escalating climate crisis.

The article draws parallels to global youth and citizen movements protesting climate policy retreats. In Sweden, 10,000 people gathered to oppose the current government's rollback of climate policies, including fuel tax cuts and the rejection of a 2030 emissions reduction target. Similar protests and lawsuits are occurring worldwide, from the United States, where young people are suing over the "child health emergency" caused by fossil fuel expansion, to Canada, Chile, and Tunisia, where citizens are demonstrating against environmental deregulation and extreme weather events.

“

The climate crisis is real and it is already here.

The urgency stems from the accelerating climate crisis. Global average temperatures have already surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time in 2024, and the 2023-2025 period is projected to be the first three-year average to exceed this threshold. Projections indicate that exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius could become a permanent state by 2030 if current emission trends continue, signifying that the Paris Agreement's safeguards are already compromised.

“

The Paris Agreement's defense line has already been breached or is continuously collapsing.

With the National Assembly's deadline passed and the revised law set to be voted on, the ultimate responsibility for setting concrete emission targets will fall to the President and the government. The article stresses that the government must choose between the easier path of following the lower end of the proposed reduction ranges and the more challenging, but necessary, path of early reduction demanded by public deliberation. It calls for all sectors of society, the legislature, the executive, political parties, media, and the older generation, to acknowledge their role in the "climate receipt" and to prioritize measures that lighten the burden on future generations.

“

Politics that postpones calculations and passes the bill on to the next person.