South Korea's Constitutional Court hasbegun hearing a case that accuses the government of failing to protect 200people by not dealing with climate change.
The case, which began Tuesday in Seoul, includes many youngenvironmental activists and children.
The people bringing the legal action, or the plaintiffs, saidthe case was Asia's first climate-related case. It includes four petitions bychildren and babies among others dating from 2020. There is also a petitionfrom a fetus at the time the case was brought to court, nicknamed"Woodpecker."
Lee Jongseoksaid climate lawsuits are getting popular around the world and are gainingpublic interest. Lee is the president of the court, which is one of the highestin South Korea.
"The courtrecognizes the importance and public interest of this case and will makeefforts to ensure that deliberations are conducted thoroughly,"he said.
Earlier thismonth, Europe's human rights court ruled on another climate-related case. Thecourt found the Swiss government had violated its citizens' rights by not doingenough to combat climate change. Courts in Australia, Brazil and Peru are alsohearing similar cases.
The plaintiffssaid in a statement that South Korea's climate plans are not enough to keep theworld's average temperature increase within 1.5 degrees Celsius of"pre-industrial" levels. The government's failure violates "fundamental rights,"the statement said.
Climatescientists say if the average world temperature rises more than 1.5 degreesCelsius, there will be results that cannot be changed. These scientists saylarge ice sheets will melt and ocean currents will stop.
Burning offossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal, results in carbon emissions.These warm gases are being blamed for the warming of the land and sea. SouthKorea's economy depends on fossil fuels for growth. However, South Korea hassought to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
Governmentlawyers told the court that the government was doing everything possible toreduce carbon emissions and not violate the basic rights of its people. Theyadded that the government did not discriminate against young people, and therecould be changes to yearly goals on carbon reduction.
Severalactivists said the government's answer was disappointing.
A group of youngpeople, including Woodpecker, who is now one year old, gathered outside thecourt. Some criticized what they called the government's inaction on climatechange.
"Carbonemission reduction keeps getting pushed back as if it is homework that can bedone later," said the baby's mother, Lee Donghyun. "But that burden willbe what our children have to bear eventually."
The mother ofone eight-year-old plaintiff said her children live in fear of the effects ofclimate change.
"Becausethere's a mountain behind our house, the kids say our house can get hit by alandslide. And who knows? That can happen," she said.
Last year, SouthKorea lowered its 2030 targets for greenhouse gas reductions. But it kept itsnational goal of cutting emissions by 40 percent of 2018 levels, calling themove a reasonable change.
I'm Dan Novak.
Dan Novakadapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by Reuters.
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Words in ThisStory
petition — n. a request thatis signed by citizens who are asking that the government take action on anissue
deliberation — n. careful andthoughtful consideration
thorough — adj. complete
fundamental — n. something thatserves as the basis for other things
emissions — n.(pl.) gases releasedby a process
carbonneutral — adj. neither addingnor taking away carbon
burden — v. a heavy weightor responsibility
韩国宪法法院开始审理一起指控政府没有应对气候变化，未能保护200名民众的案件。
星期二在首尔开始的这起案件包括许多年轻的环保活动人士和儿童。
提起诉讼的原告说，这是亚洲第一起与气候有关的案件。其中包括自2020年以来儿童和婴儿等人的四份请愿书。在案件被提交法庭时，还有一份来自胎儿“啄木鸟”的请愿书。
李钟奭表示:“气候诉讼在世界范围内越来越流行，并引起了公众的关注。李在镕是该法院院长，该法院是韩国最高法院之一。
他说:“法院认识到此案的重要性和公众利益，并将努力确保进行彻底的审议。”
本月早些时候，欧洲人权法院对另一起气候相关案件作出了裁决。法院认为，瑞士政府在应对气候变化方面做得不够，侵犯了公民的权利。澳大利亚、巴西和秘鲁的法院也在审理类似的案件。
原告在一份声明中表示，韩国的气候计划不足以将世界平均气温上升幅度控制在“工业化前”水平的1.5摄氏度以内。声明说，政府的失职侵犯了“基本权利”。
气候科学家表示，如果全球平均气温上升超过1.5摄氏度，将会产生无法改变的结果。这些科学家说，大冰原将融化，洋流将停止。
燃烧石油、天然气和煤炭等化石燃料会产生碳排放。这些温室气体被认为是导致陆地和海洋变暖的罪魁祸首。韩国经济的增长依赖于化石燃料。然而，韩国已经寻求到2050年实现碳中和。
政府律师告诉法庭，政府正在尽一切可能减少碳排放，同时不侵犯其人民的基本权利。他们补充说，政府没有歧视年轻人，并且可能会改变碳减排的年度目标。
一些活动人士表示，政府的回答令人失望。
一群年轻人，包括啄木鸟，现在已经一岁了，聚集在法庭外面。一些人批评政府在气候变化问题上不作为。
孩子的母亲李东贤(Lee Donghyun，音)说:“碳减排一直被推迟，就好像这是可以以后再做的家庭作业一样。”“但这种负担最终将是我们的孩子不得不承受的。”
一名8岁原告的母亲说，她的孩子生活在对气候变化影响的恐惧之中。
“因为我们的房子后面有一座山，孩子们说我们的房子可能会被山体滑坡击中。谁知道呢?这是可能发生的，”她说。
去年，韩国降低了2030年的温室气体减排目标。但它保持了将2018年排放量减少40%的国家目标，称此举是一个合理的变化。
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