Citizen Participation in Response to the Climate Crisis

Climate change or climate crisis, the cause of global warming, is a problem directly related to the fundamental rights stipulated in our Constitution and can be dealt with from the perspective of environmental rights, equality rights, and social rights. More broadly, it can be discussed from the viewpoint of human dignity and value and the right to pursue happiness. In addition, the climate crisis issue can be approached from the perspective of democracy in addition to the aforementioned fundamental rights. In other words, in responding to the climate crisis, citizens are no longer an object, but a subject to share and solve problems with the state and local governments. Accordingly, the Korean government established the ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality Committee’ in May 2021, composed of related ministries, experts, and civic groups, to respond to the climate crisis that is becoming a global problem. However, it has been criticized in several respects. Therefore, I think the case of the Climate Civic Council in France, which is recognized as a representative example of citizen participation in responding to the climate crisis in the European Union, is that Korea's Carbon Neutral Citizens Council, which is being criticized as above, will respond better to the climate crisis and promote citizen participation in the future. It is judged that it will be a good reference for forming social trust by properly reflecting the voice.