기후위기대응을 위한 입법 개선방안 마련 = A Study on Improving Legislation to Respond to Climate Crisis

국문 초록 (Abstract)

Ⅰ. Introduction
□ Objectives
ㅇ Starting with Sweden (2017), Britain, France, Denmark, New Zealand, and Hungary, six countries in total have enacted a legislation on carbon neutrality, and many other countries, including Korea, have declared carbon neutrality as a national target in 2050.
ㅇ To actively respond to the climate crisis, the National Assembly proposed a number of related legislations.
- Special Act on the Green New Deal for a Just Transition to a Decarbonized Society (Rep. Sim Sang-jung, August 4, 2020), Framework Act on the Implementation of a Decarbonized Society to Address Climate Crisis (Rep. Lee So-young, November 11, 2020), Framework Act on the Response to the Climate Crisis (Rep. Yu Ei-dong, December 18, 2020), Climate Crisis Response Act (Rep. Ahn Ho-young, December 1, 2020), Framework Act on the Green Transition for a Sustainable Society (Rep. Han Jeoung-ae, December 18, 2020), Basic Act for Response to Climate Crisis and the Just Green Transition (Rep. Kang Eun-mi, April 23, 2021), Carbon Neutral Green Growth Framework Act (Rep. Lim Lee-ja, June 16, 2021), Framework Act on Response to Climate Crisis and the Implementation of Carbon Neutrality (Rep. Lee Su-jin, June 18, 2021), etc.
ㅇ The main points of the initiatives are achieving carbon neutrality in 2050, establishing and implementing national strategies or basic plans, setting and implementing green house gas reduction goals, detailed policies, establishing and implementing climate change adaptation measures, climate change impact assessment, composing the Climate Crisis Response Fund, green transition, promoting international cooperation, etc.
ㅇ Yet, the detailed provisions indicate differences, and some legislation have limitations concerning responding to the climate crisis, showing shortcomings in ensuring actual implementation.
ㅇ In order to effectively respond to the climate crisis, a systematic and gradually developed legislation is required. Accordingly, this study compares and reviews the legislation proposed by the National Assembly and suggests a comprehensive improvement plan to respond to the climate crisis.
□ Main Content
ㅇ The purpose of this study is to compare and review the recent legislation on climate crisis response proposed by the National Assembly, review the legislative measures of each sector, and present a final improvement plan.
ㅇ First, the study will examine the impact of domestic and international climate crises and the need for legislative countermeasures. Also it will separately compare the current laws and actions on climate crisis response and review their issues and problems.
ㅇ Secondly, based on the problems analyzed above, a system to prepare measures to improve the legislation on responding to climate crisis is constructed. This is presented through five improvement proposals which are the Basic Act on the Sustainable Society, the Framework Act on the Response to the Climate Crisis, the Carbon Neutrality Implementation Act, the Climate Change Adaptation Act, and the Green Transition Support Act.
Ⅱ. The Need to Enact Legislation to Respond to Climate Crisis
1. The need to respond to climate crisis
ㅇ According to the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 ℃ published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it has been observed that the average temperature of the earth increased by 1 ℃ in 2017 compared to 1850~1900 due to human activities (October 2018).
ㅇ According to the National Institute of the Science and Technology (2018), Korea’s temperature in the last 30 years has risen by 1.4 ℃ from the early 20th century (1912-1941) and the precipitation has increased by 124 mm. Through the changes in the length of the seasons and the number of days of extreme temperature, global warming is predicted to evolve at a faster rate than at what IPCC has presented.
ㅇ With the assertion that the cause of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has been prevalent around the world since last year, is related to the climate crisis, the severity of the climate crisis has expanded to all fields.
ㅇ Through the ongoing spread of the coronavirus and the increase of casualties and disaster damage caused by abnormal weather conditions, we have learned that we should confront the current situation and recognized the need to more actively respond to the climate crisis through the improvement of the current legal system.
2. Review of the legal system for responding to the climate crisis
□ Review of existing laws
ㅇ The current law for responding to the climate crisis is the Green Growth Act, which was set and implemented in 2010; however, it lacks efficiency in actively responding to the climate crisis.
- As previous laws have been enacted based on the Framework Act on Sustainable Development and Framework Act on Energy, currently there is no legal system in place to respond to climate crisis.
- Also, no clear principles and mid- to long-term goals to respond to the climate crisis exist.
- There is a lack of specific policies and provisions for responding to the climate crisis, including initiating frameworks, funds for climate crisis response, climate change impact assessments, climate change adaptation, and the support for green transition.
- Due to the fact that the government is the main actor in most of the articles, the uncertainty and ambiguity of the subject when implementing the law have been raised.
- As the principles and policies in all fields are listed simultaneously, there is concern that their clarity and versatility might rather be weakened.
□ Review of proposals
ㅇ Since August 2020, there have been more than eight legislations on responding to the climate crisis.
ㅇ Excluding the Special Act on the Green New Deal proposed by Representative Sim Sang-jung and the Climate Crisis Response Act proposed by Representative Ahn Ho-young, all of the proposals have the frame of an Organic Law, and specify the comprehensive laws related to climate crisis response.
ㅇ The Framework Act on the Implementation of a Decarbonized Society to Address Climate Crisis specifies the establishment of the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Goals (Article 10), establishment of the National Climate Crisis Committee (Article 18), establishment and implementation of a master plan for responding to the national climate crisis (Article 33), establishment and implementation of a basic energy plan (Article 36), conducting climate crisis impact assessments (Article 40), Climate Crisis Adaptation Measures (Article 59), installation of the Support Center for the Just Transition (Article 62), establishment of the Climate Crisis Response Fund (Article 64), etc.
ㅇ The Framework Act on Climate Crisis Response specifies the establishment of the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Goals (Article 17), establishment of a national comprehensive plan for responding to climate crisis (Article 8), establishment of the National Climate Crisis Response Committee (Article 15), Climate Crisis Impact Assessment (Article 25), designation of the climate crisis adaptation measures and the Climate Change Adaptation Center (Article 26, Article 28), establishment of the Climate Crisis Response Fund (Article 29), etc.
ㅇ The Climate Crisis Response Act specifies the establishment of the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Goals (Article 17), Climate Crisis Response Committee (Article 7), preparation of a master plan for climate crisis response (Article 9), designation of Climate Crisis Adaptation Measures and Adaptation Center (Article 27, Article 30), Climate Change Impact Assessment (Article 13), establishment and implementation of a master plan for international cooperation in climate crisis (Article 31), designation of a climate-resilient city (Article 14), etc.
ㅇ The Framework Act on the Green Transition for a Sustainable Society specifies the establishment of the national basic strategy for the green transition (Article 8), development and dissemination of sustainable development indicators (Article 16), Committee on the Green
Transformation (Article 18), achieving a sustainable society through the green industry and green technology (Article 38~Article 50), etc.
ㅇ The Basic Act for Climate Crisis Response and the Just Green Transition includes the establishment and implementation of the government’s national strategy for a decarbonized society (Article 7), setting greenhouse gas reduction goals (Article 8), review and evaluation of the implementation status (Article 10), establishment of a Decarbonized Society Committee (Article 12), establishment and implementation of a master plan for responding to the national and local climate crises (Article 27, Article 28), establishment and implementation of a climate crisis response plan for public institutions (Article 29), establishment of the Support Center for the Decarbonized Society (Article 34), Climate Crisis Impact Assessment (Article 35), carbon-responsive budget system (Article 36), establishment and implementation of climate crisis adaptation measures (Article 38), establishment and implementation of a master plan for a just transition (Article 48), etc.
ㅇ The purpose of the Framework Act on Carbon Neutral, Green Growth is to achieve carbon neutrality and promote green growth based on the existing Green Growth Act. It mainly addresses the establishment of the greenhouse gas reduction targets (Article 9), national strategy for carbon neutral, green growth (Article 10), metropolitan and regional inclusive plans (Article 11, Article 12), review and evaluation of the implementation status (Article 14), Carbon Neutral, Green Growth Committee (Article 15), management of the greenhouse gas targets of the public sector and major emitting companies (Article 21, Article 22), implementation of urban carbon-neutral projects (Article 28), expansion of carbon sinks, etc. (Article 29), fostering greenhouse gas reduction and absorption technologies (Article 30), fostering and supporting the green economy and the green industry (Article 37), facilitating resource circulation (Article 38), designation of the special district for a fair transition and the establishment of the Support Center for the Just Transition (Article 49, Article 50), expansion of the carbon neutrality implementation of local governments (Article 53), establishment of the Climate Crisis Response Fund (Article 56), etc.
ㅇ The Framework Act on Climate Crisis Response and the Implementation of Carbon Neutrality specifies the greenhouse gas reduction goals (Article 10), national strategy on carbon neutrality (Article 11), Master Plan for Carbon Neutralization and Energy (Article 12, Article 13), central, metropolitan, and basic implementation plan (Article 14, Article 15, Article 16), examination on the implementation status (Article 17), establishment of the Carbon Neutrality Committee (Article 18), management of the greenhouse gas targets of the public sector and major emitting companies (Article 26, Article 27), GHG-responsive budgeting (Article 31), greenhouse gas emission tax (Article 32), promotion of the circular economy (Article 36), Climate Change Impact Assessment (Article 40), establishment and implementation of climate crisis adaptation measures, etc. (Article 41), establishing and implementing just transition measures (Article 44), supporting green job creation and employment fluctuation (Article 45), designation of a special district for the just transition, etc. (Article 47), installation of a just transition fund (Article 49), etc.
Ⅲ. Measures to Improve Legislation on Responding to the Climate Crisis
□ Establish a legislative system to respond to the climate crisis
ㅇ The legislative system for climate crisis response consists of five major proposals.
ㅇ First, it is proposed that the current Sustainable Development Act be newly enacted as the Framework Act on the Sustainable Society to strengthen its status and restore its function.
- The objective is to distinguish green growth and sustainable development, which have been continuously discussed, and to expand the field of sustainable development across the social and environmental sectors.
ㅇ Second, it is proposed to enact the Framework Act on Response to Climate Crisis which has the nature of a fundamental law, focusing on the countermeasures to address the climate crisis.
- It should specify the common aspects of the two pillars of climate crisis response, mitigation and adaptation, and additionally stipulate matters related to resource circulation, climate change impact assessment, climate information center, and climate crisis response fund.
ㅇ Third, it is proposed to enact the Carbon Neutral Implementation Act which states the articles on greenhouse gas reduction to address the climate crisis.
- It should set specific greenhouse gas reduction goals, depict practical means, review measures for implementation, and indicate plans for industry/energy transition, emission trading system, carbon tax, target management system, carbon absorption expansion, etc.
ㅇ Fourth, the Climate Change Adaptation Act which covers all sectors of climate change adaptation is proposed.
- It should specify the establishment and implementation of climate change adaptation measures in consideration of the ecosystem and vulnerable groups of the climate crisis. General issues in climate change adaptation, including the issues related to the designation of the National (Korean) Adaptation Center on Climate Change, ecosystem, biodiversity, air, water environment, health, agriculture and food, forestry, coast and ocean, fisheries, industry, and disaster prevention are dealt with.
ㅇ Lastly, it is proposed to enact the Green Transition Support Act to alleviate inequality accompanying the just transition.
- A wide range of support policies are prepared to prevent possible side effects beforehand and support the existing workers and local residents.
□ Implementation of a sustainable society
ㅇ The current Sustainable Development Act consists of 16 clauses, and when the Green Growth Act was enacted, six core clauses were deleted and amended, which practically invalidated the law. Accordingly, many academic and legal debates have been raised so far.
- Restructuring of the national legal system through sustainable development is needed. Sustainable development is a vision which pursues economic efficiency, social equity, and environmental soundness in general.
ㅇ With the purpose of contributing to the creation of a better environment, the Framework Act on the Green Transition for a Sustainable Society sets a sustainable society as a future-oriented national vision and goal, and utilizes green transition as a driving force to realize the global sustainable development goals and provide more information for future generations.
- It focuses on the concept of sustainable development rather than green growth, and presents the concept of green transition as a method toward sustainable development.
- It distinguishes green growth and sustainable development, which have been repeatedly discussed, and emphasizes social equity in the areas which have been neglected.
- Although there exist various institutional and financial support measures to spread and promote green transition, little effort has been made to support for the existing industry workers and local communities who may have been disadvantaged by the green transition.
ㅇ It is proposed to enact the Framework Act on Sustainable Society as the highest law and reorganize the embodiment of a sustainable society and its related legislative system.
- The basic ideology is to balance the three areas: economy, society, and the environment.
- The Sustainable Development Committee should be upgraded to the presidential committee, and the Sustainable Development Committee should be established in each sector: economy, society, and the environment.
- In order to balance society, economy, and the environment, the Sustainability Committee must be separated towards developing and evaluating sustainable development indicators, taking charge of the evaluation of each minister’s implementation, and establishing a basic national strategy to adjust the social structure innovation and national policies.
□ Measures for a systematic response to the climate crisis
ㅇ The current Green Growth Act has a large number of overlapping principles and plans, which makes the purpose and direction of the law unclear, and this causes problems such as preparing separate laws for implementation.
ㅇ Considering that the proposals set the basic framework and principles for the areas related to climate crisis response or set the basic structure of the country, form practical basic principles, rules, systems and policies for the climate crisis, it is judged that it can be an appropriate alternative to responding to the climate crisis.
ㅇ However, some of the clauses require clarification regarding duplication and classification. There is a limitation that it lacks fundamental provisions for climate change response.
- The articles on the establishment of the committee and greenhouse gas reduction targets, and the designation of the centers and plans for climate change adaptation overlap. The establishment of the implementation monitoring system and climate information center, resource circulation, the nature and ecosystems as carbon sinks are not sufficiently considered. Policies are merely listed focusing on the reduction only.
ㅇ The enactment of the Framework Act on Response to Climate Crisis is required to enhance the driving force by promoting cooperation with other ministries while including all policy details.
- Establish basic principles through social consensus. Integrated consideration was given to greenhouse gas reduction and climate change adaptation, and in order to expect synergistic effects of the Framework Act, the common areas of the two fields must be specified in a balanced way.
- Matters concerning the establishment of the committee should be included and the participation of the private sector in climate crisis response should be allowed by letting the committee collect the opinions of the public and experts.
- The Ministry of Environment should be changed to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, and the Minister should be the Deputy Prime Minister. The Ministry of Climate and Environment is to be responsible for overseeing the climate crisis response policies to overcome the limitations of the committee-centered system and guarantee the implementation of the plan with clear responsibility.
□ Practical implementation for carbon neutralization
ㅇ The current Green Growth Act lacks clear and detailed implementation measures for achieving carbon neutrality, such as the greenhouse gas reduction target, a performance evaluation system to monitor greenhouse gas reduction, practical measures and means for greenhouse gas reduction, and penalties when failing to meet the greenhouse gas reduction target.
ㅇ The proposals also set the GHG reduction targets for 2030 and 2050, which were raised to reflect the overall international trend. Nevertheless, there are still passive regulations in securing implementation means to achieve the target and evaluating the process. Also, no penalties are imposed on those who fail to meet the goals.
ㅇ There are concerns about the loss of a driving force due to the issue of unclear responsibility, caused by the committee-oriented framework, and the discussion is not sufficient in areas such as the carbon-responsive budgeting, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and overseas reduction projects.
ㅇ It is necessary to enact the Carbon Neutral Implementation Act, which stipulates sectors that can achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and overcome the current economic crisis at the same time.
- Mid- to long term reduction targets for 2030 and 2050 should be set and specified in the law (applying the principle of moving forward).
- The law shall describe the method of periodic evaluation of reduction potential and disclosure of evaluation on major reduction technology, and shall also specify an obligation to take active supplementary measures (budget, organization, etc) in the case where the reason for failure is justifiable.
- The rationale should be presented for raising financial resources through imposing carbon tax on industries and companies that receive free-of-charge allowances in the emission trading system or those excluded from the emissions trading system.
□ Securing the effectiveness of climate change adaptation measures
ㅇ In the current Green Growth Act, regulations on climate change adaptation are limited to only two articles (Articles 40 and 48). Predominantly, there is a lack of provisions related to adaptation.
- Also, there is a lack of a feedback system on monitoring, evaluating and reviewing the implementation of the adaptation plan. The legal framework is rather weak to promote coordination and cooperation among ministries in the process of establishing and implementing adaptation measures for each sector. Also the roles of local governments and public institutions are imprecise.
ㅇ The proposals generally improved and refined provisions relevant to adaptation. However, the implementation system on coordination and cooperation is to some extent similar to the existing legislation, and as it is centered on the committee affiliated with the Prime Minister’s office, it is difficult to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the measures. A detailed feedback system must be prepared, and adaptation must be included in the list of usage of the fund.
ㅇ It is proposed to enact the Climate Change Adaptation Act as an independent bill that includes all adaptation sectors by integrating and linking articles related to climate change adaptation.
- It should suggest clear basic principles on climate change adaptation and also establish and implement climate change adaptation measures at the national and local level.
- Adaptation measures must be prepared per sector and divided into those for the central government, those for local governments, and those for public institutions. Also the feedback system on adaptation measures including the process of checking, reporting, and evaluating must be further refined.
- A scientific foundation should be established to accurately handle climate monitoring and forecasting and weather information management systems. The impact assessment, vulnerability assessment, and risk assessment should also be included.
- The appointment of dedicated personnel in the fields of education and public relations, clarification of the purpose of budget and fund, R&D, etc. should be additionally stated in the Act.
□ Prepare support measures for a just transition
ㅇ Under the current Green Growth Act, most of the relevant clauses support the shift to the green industry and economy. Individual laws related to this deals with the education of workers in regard to the transition which should follow the shift of industrial structure.
- However, hardly any education program deals with the jobs that will disappear in the process of the green industrial transition and the existing workers in the fields.
ㅇ In the proposals, a number of detailed provisions on supporting the transition were newly established and specified. However, overall, the provisions were merely borrowed from the Green Growth Act and there is still a lack of awareness on fair transition and support.
ㅇ The Green Transition Support Act may serve as a way to support and realize a just transition in the path toward a carbon-neutral society.
- The key is to set the transition target by sector, stage, and period and establish and implement plans for a transition and support based on each division.
- Efficiency should be increased by establishing and operating support centers.
- Active measures should be sought out by specifying the use of funds and tax support to assist the green transition.
- A new provision on bottom-up support plans must be added, by forming stakeholder governance which includes companies, workers, and local governments (local residents).
Ⅳ. Conclusion
□ Conclusion
ㅇ The legislative system for climate crisis response was established and five proposals were presented.
- The proposals are as follows: enact the Framework Act on the Sustainable Society and expand the sustainable development across all social and environmental sectors; enact the Basic Act on Response to Climate Crisis with the character of a fundamental law that exclusively focuses on response measures to the climate crisis; enact the Carbon Neutral Implementation Act specifying provisions on greenhouse gas reduction; enact the Climate Change Adaptation Act which covers all aspects of climate change adaptation; and enact the Green Transition Support Act to support a green transition for achieving carbon neutrality.
□ Future challenges
ㅇ For practical implantation of policies, future projects for individual areas are needed.
- It is required to bring balance to social and environmental sectors that have been neglected so far by conducting a study on the distribution of the responsibilities and authority of the Sustainable Society Committee and reflecting the roles of organizations and ministries for a sustainable society and the possibility of change in the administrative organization on legislative bills.
- Individual research is required in various fields, including the establishment and operation of a climate information system, methods and targets of climate change impact assessments, policy development for a resource circulating society, forming and operating funds, and measures by sector to promote international cooperation.
- A system to strengthen the monitoring of the greenhouse gas reduction target should be prepared, and follow-up studies on the carbon-responsive budgeting or the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, in preparation of carbon pricing, should be carried out.
- A comprehensive study to mainstream the adaptation sector should be conducted, such as developing an adaptation assessment technique to consider the subject of climate change impact assessment or etc.
- To prepare an integral support system for the green transition, research should be conducted to arrange specific supportive measures. This should be applied in regions and industries, the feedback received in the process should be reviewed, and research to develop improvement plans should also be carried out.