기후변화와 인권

Abstract

Climate change is distinct from natural disasters. It is caused by man-made carbon emissions, and at the same time it can be mitigated by man-made efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Therefore, the damage caused by climate change should not be treated like a natural disaster. Governments and the international community are held accountable for the damage caused by climate change. Also, climate change is not just an environmental problem. Climate change affects essential aspects of individuals' lives. Individual rights can be immediately jeopardized by climate disasters and threatened in the long term by the cumulative effects of climate change. And these risks of climate change are more than temporary, they are increasing and ever-present risks. This is why the responsibility of the state to protect individuals from the dangers of climate change arises. To prevent the harms of climate change, we need to start the discussion from the perspective of ensuring climate rights. I would like to explain that states have an obligation to prevent climate change and to maintain a level of human rights. In order for climate rights to be guaranteed through domestic judicial procedures, the possibility of guaranteeing them through constitutional litigation should be examined. The content of climate rights is not directly stipulated in the Constitution. However, I argue that by interpreting the Korean Constitution, we can derive from the Constitution the obligations of the state to guarantee climate human rights, and then examine whether the state has properly fulfilled its obligations to guarantee climate rights. The climate human rights that are required to be protected from the risks of climate change can be specifically described as the fundamental rights under our Constitution: the right to life, the right to physical and mental health, the dignity and worth of the human person, the right to freedom of action in general, and the right to the environment. In addition, through the interpretation of the content of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, the content and subject of the rights to be protected by the climate right should be expanded. Therefore, it is necessary to encompass the contents of climate human rights as a new human right requested to respond to the current climate crisis situation.