SESAN, South Korea (AP) — Hwang Seong-yeol stood at the edge of a golden field, nervously watching the combine crawl through his rice, churning up dirt and stalks. Its steady hum filled the damp autumn air as grain poured into a truck waiting at the other end for dirty rice.
It was the last day of what Hwang said was one of the toughest seasons in his three decades in farming. He and other farmers feel helpless in the increasingly unstable weather they face. climate change and damage to their crops. This has made their jobs more difficult and their future in doubt.
Hwang is one of five South Korean farmers who recently sued state utility Korea Electric Power Corporation and its energy subsidiaries, alleging that their dependence on coal and other fossil fuels has accelerated climate change and harmed their crops.
The lawsuit raises questions about whether energy companies' role in climate change and the resulting agricultural losses can be quantified. This is the first case of its kind in South Korea, said Yeni Kim, a lawyer for Solutions for Our Climate, a Seoul-based nonprofit that is working on the case.
The case highlights the challenges facing South Korea, a manufacturing power that industrialized long after Western countries are now pressuring other countries to move away from fossil fuels, which it faces as it transitions to cleaner energy.
Unstable weather causes 'agricultural disasters'
Hwang Fields is located on a reclaimed coastal plain along South Korea's western sea, where shimmering waterways crisscross dark, fertile soil and flocks of migrating geese float overhead, moving like a giant living blanket.
An extremely wet September and October were followed by a very cold spring, which stunted plant growth. Summer floods caused further damage before a wet autumn brought on the rise of fungal diseases.
Hwang would have preferred to harvest in drier weather, but he had to do it earlier because incessant rains buried the rice stalks into the soil, causing the germination of ripe grains. That day in late October was only the second driest day after 18 days of rain in a row.
“It's really alarming – we know how much rice we should normally get from 30,000 pyeong (25 acres) of land, but the yield is steadily declining every year,” said Hwang, who expects this year's harvest to be 20% to 25% below normal.
“We began to wonder why it is always farmers who have done nothing wrong who suffer the consequences of the climate crisis. Shouldn't we demand something from those who are actually causing it?”
Farmers “inherently vulnerable” climate change, said Kim, a lawyer.
In its annual climate report in April, the South Korean government detailed how a year of extreme weather in 2024, the country's hottest year, triggered a series of “agricultural disasters”: heavy summer rains that destroyed thousands of hectares (acres) of arable land, followed by weeks of extreme heat that destroyed even more crops, mostly rice.
Lawyer says KEPCO group is responsible for 0.4% of global climate damage
Kim and her colleagues decided to file the lawsuit, which represents plaintiffs from across South Korea, after talking with Hwang and others at farmers' markets.
They say KEPCO, which has a monopoly on electricity transmission and wholly owns its subsidiaries, should bear some blame for the weather disruption, citing what they say is excessive carbon dioxide emissions and a slow transition to renewable energy sources.
From 2011 to 2022, these companies accounted for about 30% of South Korea's greenhouse gas emissions and about 0.4% of global emissions, according to Kim's analysis of publicly available data.
“Therefore, they should also bear 0.4% responsibility for farmers' losses,” Kim said.
The lawsuit seeks an initial damages of 5 million won ($3,400) per customer, an amount likely to be adjusted as the case progresses. The plaintiffs are also symbolically demanding 2,035 won ($1.4) each to urge the government to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2035, ahead of its 2040 target.
Renewables accounted for just 10.5% of the national energy mix in 2024, and KEPCO's five subsidiaries relied on coal for more than 71% of the electricity generated that year, according to government data.
KEPCO told The Associated Press it views cutting carbon emissions as a key responsibility, citing its goal of cutting emissions 40% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels. But he declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying he “cannot share information that could affect the verdict.”
Experts say the growing debt, now more than 200 trillion won ($137 billion), accumulated over decades of government policies that kept electricity rates low for households and industry, is limiting the utility's ability to expand and modernize the power grid or invest in renewables.
Uncertain consequences of a largely symbolic lawsuit
Yoon Sung-jin, a professor at Seoul National University, said the lawsuit has symbolic significance but expressed doubt that the blame could be placed solely on KEPCO, given that everyone benefits from its cheap electricity.
She said it would be difficult to prove that utilities directly caused farm losses because climate change is a “global issue.”
It does draw attention to South Korea's need for a more efficient approach to renewable energy, including deregulating solar investment, expanding sources such as offshore wind, and ending KEPCO's transmission monopoly to encourage other competitors with a variety of technologies, Yoon said.
South Korea is expected to reach its 32.95% renewable energy target by around 2038, much slower than the 2023 average of 33.49% among developed countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Some experts, including Yoon, warn that South Korea's slow transition to renewable energy could derail its energy ambitions. advanced semiconductors And artificial intelligence, how its tech giants collide global pressure run on clean energy.
“Climate change and carbon neutrality are not just environmental issues, they are economic issues that ultimately concern jobs and our survival,” Yoon said.
From tangerines to rice: a common threat
The impact of extreme weather conditions caused by climate change in South Korea has far-reaching consequences.
Farmers now face higher costs and must use more labor to produce the same or lower yield.
Ma Young Eun, Ahn apple A farmer in the southeastern city of Hamyang said he is using more pesticides as pests and diseases become more difficult to control due to prolonged heat and humidity. Apples that grew in cooler weather during his father's time are less abundant and tasty, he said.
From mandarin orange farmers on Jeju Island to strawberry growers in Sancheon in the southeast, farmers are trying to find ways to survive.
For the first time since he started farming in 2011, Ma coated all the fruit on his 2,200 trees with a mixture of copper sulfate and lime to prevent fungal infections and skin damage from intense sunlight.
He began thinking seriously about climate change in 2018, when a severe April snowstorm damaged flower buds, resulting in one of his worst harvests. Farming becomes more difficult every year and he constantly wonders how long he can continue farming.
“I think about it every day,” said Ma, who is raising two teenage boys with his wife. “The biggest problem is my children.”
