Gwangmyeong City Designates January 5 as 'Gwangmyeong Climate Human Rights Day' Every Year

Proclamation Ceremony for '1.5℃ Gwangmyeong Climate Human Rights Day'
Mayor Park Seungwon: "The Climate Crisis Is a Matter of Citizens' Lives and Human Rights"

Gwangmyeong City in Gyeonggi Province has declared the climate crisis to be an issue of citizens' lives and human rights, and has designated January 5 each year as 'Gwangmyeong Climate Human Rights Day.'

On the 5th, Gwangmyeong City held the proclamation ceremony for '1.5℃ Gwangmyeong Climate Human Rights Day' at the city hall's main conference room to express this commitment.

At the '1.5℃ Gwangmyeong Climate Human Rights Day' proclamation ceremony held on the 5th at the city hall's main conference room, Park Seungwon, Mayor of Gwangmyeong (center at the front table), is pledging with citizens to spread awareness of climate human rights. Provided by Gwangmyeong City

'1.5℃ Gwangmyeong Climate Human Rights Day' was designated to symbolize the core goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which is to limit the rise in global average temperature to within 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The proclamation ceremony defined the climate crisis not merely as an environmental issue but as a human rights matter directly linked to citizens' fundamental rights, and expressed the city's determination to expand this perspective into social action.

Mayor Park Seungwon of Gwangmyeong stated, "The climate crisis is not just an environmental issue, but a matter of citizens' lives and human rights," adding, "With this proclamation ceremony as a starting point, I will work together with citizens to make Gwangmyeong a climate human rights city where everyone can live with dignity."

About 100 citizens attended the event, which featured a light drawing performance under the theme 'Reflecting Human Dignity Amid the Climate Crisis.' In addition, local children, people with disabilities, and immigrants took the stage to symbolically convey the meaning of 'climate justice' toward a more inclusive society.

At the event, Cho Hyoje, an honorary professor at Sungkonghoe University and a human rights scholar, delivered a keynote lecture on 'Human Dignity Amid the Climate Crisis' as an invited speaker.

Going forward, the city plans to actively incorporate a human rights perspective into all climate crisis response policies, and will also pursue the enactment of a climate human rights ordinance and the establishment of a climate human rights solidarity network.