South Korea's top court said on Thursday that the country's climate change law does not protect basic human rights and lacks targets to shield future generations, in a landmark ruling after activists blamed the government for failing to effectively tackle climate change.
About 200 plaintiffs including young climate activists and even some infants filed petitions to the constitutional court since 2020, arguing that their government was violating its citizens' human rights by not doing enough on climate change.
The court asked the legislature to revise the carbon neutrality act by the end of February 2026, acknowledging that the existing law's emission targets did not conform to the constitution by violating the duty to protect basic rights as well as failing to protect future generations against a climate crisis.
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