Heavy rainfall, setting records for daily and hourly maximum precipitation, has poured down in the central region, including Seoul. Widespread flooding in urban areas has caused significant damage to citizens, and landslides and ground subsidence in various places have destroyed habitats of biodiversity. This proves that even though the government declared carbon neutrality and the national assembly declared a climate emergency, it failed to build disaster infrastructure suitable for the era of climate crisis and secure sufficient area and resilience of urban green areas.
This relentless torrential rain is the face of climate crisis itself. Weather anomalies caused by climate change have come in the form of heavy rain, following wildfires, droughts, and heatwaves, resulting in numerous casualties and damages. Particularly heartbreaking is the loss of precious lives of citizens residing in semi-basement dwellings in two locations in Seoul. There is no way to share the grief. Semi-basement housing not only struggles to function as dignified living spaces due to climate-related disasters but also faces challenges related to drainage and ventilation. Although the construction of basement housing in low-lying areas is currently prohibited, more than 200,000 households in Seoul still reside in such dwellings.
The climate justice movement, including climate crisis emergency actions, has consistently warned that climate change will threaten the existence of the poor and vulnerable in our society. Politicians, bureaucrats, and business leaders were well aware of these warnings. Even without heeding such warnings, we have already witnessed how a national disaster like the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately collapses the lives of the elderly, women, people with disabilities, and economically vulnerable groups. Yet, our policymakers have been incompetent and insincere.
There are no proactive greenhouse gas reduction measures for the climate crisis response, and targets are vague with uncertain implementation methods. There is a disproportionate focus on expanding facilities with inherent risks, such as nuclear power plants. Moreover, projects retrogressing goals and declarations, such as building new airports nationwide and constructing new coal-fired power plants, are either being ignored or even led by those in power. Furthermore, the will and effort to correct the structural inequality, the root cause of the climate crisis, are nowhere to be found. Is this climate justice? Where is the righteous transformation for the climate crisis era? While the homes of citizens on the fringes of our society were sinking, carbon-emitting corporations and their leaders who caused this climate crisis were observing the scenery of rain from their safe haven.
This torrential rain will wash away all the hypocrisy and falsehoods. The pretense of responding to the climate crisis, the deceit of eco-friendly management – all of these will be exposed as mere greenwashing swept away with the three-day downpour. The government must now actively reassess greenhouse gas reduction plans. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to formulate large-scale policies and expand budgets to strengthen social safety nets for vulnerable groups and sectors susceptible to climate disasters in areas such as housing, labor, agriculture, and disabilities. Without a fundamental systemic transformation, there is no safe haven. The climate crisis looming in the name of heavy rain vividly confirms this. Let us remember our fellow citizens who had no choice but to live in places where living was impossible. Mourning and remembering them, standing in citizen solidarity to fight the climate crisis is truly the essence of climate justice.
