Do-Hyun Kim et al. v. South Korea

This complaint further clarifies which Act violates which Article of the Constitution and the ways in which climate change have impacted South Korean citizens. That the Framework Act on Low Carbon {Article 42 Section 1 Subparagraph 1} specifically violates Article 75 and Article 35 section 2 of the Constitution with the blanket authority to the government to set the greenhouse gas reduction target without providing any scope specifically defined for the GHG reduction target, and failing to designate any specific legal procedure or form of lower executive regulation; Article 25 Section of the Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Low Carbon specifically violates the petitioners constitutional rights, including environmental rights and right to life, through its ineffectiveness to reach the minimum reduction goal agreed upon in the Paris Agreement to contain the increase of the atmospheric temperature; The abolition of the “2020 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target” as set out in Article 25 Section of the Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Low Carbon violates the petitioners constitutional rights, including environmental and and right to life rights, through its arbitrary abolition after the government failed to meet the goal they set out. The complaint also cites research from the Korea Meteorological Administration on the rising temperatures and increasing precipitation fluctuations in Korea, the rising sea temperature and sea level in Korea which is above the global average, and the increasing extreme weather phenomena and deepening regional bias in Korea which has caused: increasing threats to land and marine ecosystems, exacerbate the instability of agricultural production, increased health risks due to climate change such as temperature rise, heatwaves and disasters, damages to property and loss of life due to heavy rain, typhoon, and heavy snow caused by climate change. Furthermore, the complaint demonstrates how the South Korean government recognizes the negative impacts of climate change through the Paris Agreement and the acts it has passed.


 * http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/kim-yujin-et-al-v-south-korea/#:~:text=Summary%3A,environment%2C%20according%20to%20news%20reports.
 * http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/non-us-case-documents/2020/20200313_NA_complaint.pdf