The Constitutional Court of Korea, in its decision rendered on August 29, 2024, which declared South Korea’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets unconstitutional, emphasized that, for GHG reduction targets to meet the minimum necessary conditions as protective measures against the climate crisis, they must “correspond to the share that our nation should contribute to global reduction efforts, grounded in scientific facts and international standards.”
Plan1.5 issued an English report named 'South Korea’s 2035 NDC: A Fair Share Analysis Based on Scientific Facts and International Standards.' The study aimed to establish South Korea’s 2035 NDC using a top-down fair share approach, based on: ① the global reduction requirements and emission allowances under the 1.5℃ global reduction pathways proposed by the IPCC and endorsed by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, and ② an allocation approach that reflects the IPCC’s equity principles— namely responsibility, capability, equality, and the right to development.
The results show that the 2035 reduction rate, based on the ‘Weighted Average’ method, which comprehensively takes into account the IPCC’s equity principles and applies the weights for each principle as determined by domestic experts, is 66.7% relative to 2018 total emissions. This is approximately 3 percentage points higher than the 2035 reduction rate under the 1.5℃ global reduction pathway.
This is consistent with international environmental law, which recognizes that countries with significant responsibility for GHG emissions and a strong capacity to respond to the climate crisis, like South Korea, should contribute more to global mitigation efforts, according to the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.”
The Constitutional Court of Korea, in its decision rendered on August 29, 2024, which declared South Korea’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets unconstitutional, emphasized that, for GHG reduction targets to meet the minimum necessary conditions as protective measures against the climate crisis, they must “correspond to the share that our nation should contribute to global reduction efforts, grounded in scientific facts and international standards.”
Plan1.5 issued an English report named 'South Korea’s 2035 NDC: A Fair Share Analysis Based on Scientific Facts and International Standards.' The study aimed to establish South Korea’s 2035 NDC using a top-down fair share approach, based on: ① the global reduction requirements and emission allowances under the 1.5℃ global reduction pathways proposed by the IPCC and endorsed by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, and ② an allocation approach that reflects the IPCC’s equity principles— namely responsibility, capability, equality, and the right to development.
The results show that the 2035 reduction rate, based on the ‘Weighted Average’ method, which comprehensively takes into account the IPCC’s equity principles and applies the weights for each principle as determined by domestic experts, is 66.7% relative to 2018 total emissions. This is approximately 3 percentage points higher than the 2035 reduction rate under the 1.5℃ global reduction pathway.
This is consistent with international environmental law, which recognizes that countries with significant responsibility for GHG emissions and a strong capacity to respond to the climate crisis, like South Korea, should contribute more to global mitigation efforts, according to the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.”