Abstract
With the damage caused by climate change in full swing, a judicial approach through climate change lawsuits is being sought to protect human lives and safety at a time when the international and national response system is insufficient. Due to the influence of climate change lawsuits spreading in Europe, climate change lawsuits have also been filed in Korea. There are many issues in climate change-related lawsuits, including infringement on the rights of future generations, plaintiff eligibility, political issues, due process provisions etc. Additionally, no less important than legal issues, public awareness is emerging as an important issue in climate litigation.
To find insights on the reality of the people’s awareness behind climate change lawsuits, this study aims to compare and analyze people's perceptions of climate change lawsuits in the Netherlands, Germany, and Korea through big data analysis. The media big data analysis is a useful way to understand how the general public perceives social topics and what they mean. Therefore, first, this study reviews existing studies that dealt with climate change litigation and big data analysis methods for legal research. Next, this study explains the process that applies the method of big data analysis to the analysis of climate change litigations. And then, this study goes into details about the results of such big data analysis by identifying key issues through the word cloud derived from big data and important factors to be considered in the climate change suits through social network analysis. Furthermore, this study proposes a policy alternative by identifying the essential problems of climate change lawsuits.
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Notes
- 1.
UNEP (2017), p. 10.
- 2.
Barnes et al. (2021), pp. 542–584.
- 3.
Urgenda Foundation v. Kingdom of the Netherlands, [2015] HAZAC/09/00456689; UNEP (2017), The Status of Climate Change Litigation- A Global Review, p. 15.
- 4.
The ongoing lawsuits in Korea, which raise climate change issues, are a case in which 19 South Korean teenagers claim unconstitutionality against the Low Carbon Green Growth Basic Act (The Constitutional Court of Korea, 2020 Heonma 389, 2020 Heonma 1516, March 13, 2020), and a lawsuit claiming unconstitutionality against the Carbon Neutral Framework Act enacted on September 24, 2021. (The Constitutional Court of Korea, 2021 Heonma 1264, October 12, 2021).
- 5.
Considering the importance of the case and its similarity with the Korean legal system, this study chooses the Netherlands and Germany for the analysis in this study.
- 6.
Bogojević (2013), pp. 184–207.
- 7.
Kim et al. (2013), pp. 181–195.
- 8.
Burger and Gundlach (2017).
- 9.
Setzer and Vanhala (2019), p. 580.
- 10.
Pozzo (2021), pp. 593–619.
- 11.
Macchi and van Zeben (2021), pp. 409–415.
- 12.
Elefant (2011).
- 13.
Pelc (2014), pp. 547–564.
- 14.
Whalen (2016), p. 539.
- 15.
Koniaris et al. (2018), pp. 243–268.
- 16.
Golnaraghi et al. (2021), pp. 13–17.
- 17.
Ibid, p. 13.
- 18.
Ibid, p. 17.
- 19.
Ibid.
- 20.
Ibid.
- 21.
Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands, [2015] HAZA C/09/00456689, 06/24/2015 Decided, http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/urgenda-foundation-v-kingdom-of-the-netherlands/.
- 22.
UNCC (2015).
- 23.
The World Bank Group (n.d.).
- 24.
Thunburg (2023).
- 25.
Golnaraghi et al. (2021), p. 29.
- 26.
Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands, Number 19/00135 (English translation), Supreme Court of the Netherlands, Judgment of 20 December 2019, Climate Change Litigation Databases, http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/urgenda-foundation-v-kingdom-of-the-netherlands/, Accessed 25 Feb 2023.
- 27.
Ibid, p. 29.
- 28.
Ibid, p. 20.
- 29.
Since this case was filed as a public interest group lawsuit, Urgenda was recognized as a plaintiff, but 886 citizens were dismissed as plaintiffs. Under Book 3, Section 303a of the Dutch Civil Code, a foundation or association representing the general or the collective interests may bring an action to the court concerning the protection of general interests or the collective interests of other persons. Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands, the Hague District Court, Judgment of July 24, 2015, C/09/456689 / HA ZA 13–1396 (English translation), http://climatecasechart.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/non-us-case-documents/2015/20150624_2015-HAZA-C0900456689_decision-1.pdf, Accessed 25 Feb 2023.
- 30.
Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands, (English translation), Climate Change Litigation Databases.
- 31.
Schwartz (2015).
- 32.
First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court, Neubauer et al. v. Germany, 1 BvR 2656/18, 1 BvR 288/20, 1 BvR 96/20, 1 BvR 78/20, Order of 24 March 2021.
- 33.
However, environmental groups (Germanwatch, Greenpeace, Protect the Planet, and Deutsche Umwelthilfe) were not recognized as eligible parties. Neubauer et al. v. Germany, 1 BvR 2656/18, 1 BvR 288/20, 1 BvR, 96/20, 1 BvR 78/20 (English translation), First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court, Order of 24 March 2021, Climate Change Litigation Databases, http://climatecasechart.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/non-us-case-documents/2021/20210324_11817_order-1.pdf, Accessed 1 March 2023.
- 34.
See Bundes-Klimaschutzgesetz – KSG of 12 December 2019, Federal Law Gazette, Bundesgesetzblatt – BGBl I, p. 2513.
- 35.
See§ 4(6) of the Federal Climate Change Act (Bundes-Klimaschutzgesetz – KSG) of 12 December 2019 (Federal Law Gazette, Bundesgesetzblatt – BGBl I, p. 2513).
- 36.
Neubauer et al. v. Germany, Ibid., para.756.
- 37.
The Constitutional Court of Korea, 2020 Heonma 389, March 13, 2020.
- 38.
The Application for additional claim and grounds for the claims, February 16, 2022. The Article 8 of the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality stipulates that the government should set a mid- to long-term national greenhouse gas reduction target and requires a presidential decree to set the concrete national greenhouse gas emissions goal within a range of more than 35 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 by 2030.
- 39.
Ibid., pp. 89–91.
- 40.
The Constitutional Court of Korea, 2022 Heonma 854, June 13, 2022.
- 41.
Bach (2016), p. 582.
- 42.
Rodríguez-Garavito (2021), p. 2.
- 43.
Golnaraghi et al. (2021), p. 19.
- 44.
In Korea, one of the 62 claimants in the Baby claim lawsuit filed on June 13, 2022 was a fetus. Additionally, mothers of 62 child including one fetus claimants actively participated in that lawsuit.
- 45.
“The Dutch Urgenda Foundation aims for a fast transition towards a sustainable society, with a focus on the transition towards a circular economy using only renewable energy. It works on solutions for this transition, including for example the introduction and realization of ‘energy neutral’ houses and the acceleration of electric mobility. Urgenda views climate change as one of the biggest challenges of our times and looks for solutions to ensure that the earth will continue to be a safe place to live for future generations.” Urgenda (n.d.).
- 46.
See homepage of BUND (n.d.).
- 47.
In the Four Great Rivers case ruled in 2011, the Dissenting Opinions of the Korea Supreme Court said that “According to Article 35, Section 2 of the Constitution, which stipulates that ‘the exercise and content of the right to a healthy environment shall be determined by law,’ the Basic Environmental Policy Act, which was enacted in accordance with this provision, stipulates through Article 2 that the state, local governments, etc. shall endeavor to maintain and create a more favorable environment, and when engaging in any activity that uses the environment, priority should be given to environmental conservation. It is based on the basic idea of the law to make efforts to prevent global environmental damage by seeking joint efforts to enable current citizens to enjoy its benefits widely and at the same time to ensure that it can be inherited by future generations.”, and, “Environmental problems have a significant time lag between the occurrence of the problem and its impact on reality, and while some degree of environmental degradation can be easily restored by the self-purification ability of the environment, it has characteristics such as hysteresis, resilience, and irreversibility when it exceeds its self-purification ability. Therefore, in dealing with this case involving environmental issues, it is necessary to pay special attention so that not only appellants who reside near the business area in question or use the Han River as a water source but also our descendants who will become an important foundation for our lives are not exposed to environmental pollution or damage due to current misguided policies.” The Dissenting opinions from Justice Park Si-hwan, Justice Kim Ji-hyung, Justice Lee Hong-hoon (presiding), and Justice Jeon Su-an, Supreme Court en banc Decision 2010 Mu111, Decided on April 21, 2011, Korea Supreme Court, https://glaw.scourt.go.kr, Accessed 2 Feb 2023.
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Lee, E., Kim, G. (2023). A Comparative Study on Critical Legal Issues in Korea and EU Countries on Climate Change Litigations: Based on Social Network Analysis (SNA). In: Talukdar, S., de Aquino, V.E. (eds) Judicial Responses to Climate Change in the Global South. Living Signs of Law, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46142-2_8
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