South Korea’s Constitutional Court has, in a groundbreaking decision, ruled that a portion of the country’s climate law violates the constitutional rights of future generations by failing to establish binding greenhouse gas reduction targets beyond 2030.

The unanimous verdict, announced on Thursday after four years of litigation, marks a historic victory for climate activists and could reshape environmental policymaking across Asia. The court found that the absence of legally mandated targets for the period 2031–2049 placed an excessive burden on future generations and failed to uphold the government’s constitutional duty to protect them.

The ruling gives the National Assembly and government until February 28, 2026, to amend the law and include long-term emissions goals. It echoes a 2021 decision by Germany’s constitutional court, which also found that insufficient long-term climate commitments infringed on young people’s freedoms.

The legal battle began in 2020 when Youth 4 Climate Action, representing a broad age spectrum, including babies and even a fetus, filed suit, later joined by three other lawsuits, involving 255 plaintiffs in total.

“This is not the end but the beginning of a renewed push for more ambitious climate action,” said Kim Seo-gyeong of Youth 4 Climate Action.

Twelve-year-old plaintiff Jeah Han, part of the so-called “baby climate litigation,” expressed joy at the outcome. “It feels like a wish has come true,” she said.

While the court upheld the government’s near-term 2030 target, plaintiffs called the ruling “meaningful progress” in a joint statement.

Legal expert Sejong Youn, who represented the cases, stressed that the ruling demands a reimagined emissions reduction pathway. The decision is expected to reverberate beyond South Korea, potentially influencing climate litigation in Japan, Taiwan and other Asian nations.