Asia’s first court rules against weak climate goals

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Governments should pay attention to the latest landmark ruling this week in South Korea, which found its elected officials guilty of setting weak climate targets. The country's constitutional court has instructed policymakers to set firmer emissions reductions targets between 2031 and 2049. The lack of quantitative goals in that period cannot guarantee a carbon-neutral 2050, it said. 

This is the first time a court in Asia has ruled over the adequacy of a government’s climate action plan, years after Dutch judges told its leaders to slash greenhouse gases faster. Eyes are now on Taiwan, where a similar case is pending review by its judiciary.

Such cases beg a fundamental question: who should be the arbiter of a country's climate ambitions – the (elected) government of the day, bearing the mandate of the people; or the courts, as enforcers of what a nation believes is right or wrong? This inquiry will only take on greater urgency, as more citizens take to the courts to question their government's commitment to confront the climate emergency.

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