자연기반해법(NbS)에 대한 기후정의 관점에서의 비판적 고찰

This study examines international trends and critiques of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) from a climate justice perspective and reviews NbS policies adopted in South Korea to address climate change. This study proposes that NbS could play a significant role in Korea’s domestic climate crisis response if they adequately reflect the issue of climate justice. NbS regarding climate change and biodiversity loss have grown in recent years, but a clear definition and methodology are yet to be agreed on by the international community. Currently, the definition of NbS is so broad it could include anything from peatland restoration to monoculture plantations and industrial agriculture. A key pillar of climate justice is recognitional justice which emphasizes intrinsic, rather than instrumental values in nature, and argues that climate policy must include the interests of indigenous peoples and local communities, as well as the interests of non-human organisms when addressing the climate crisis. Governments and many businesses argue that the climate crisis can be solved through NbS, such as large-scale tree planting. Such solutions often rely on monocultural plantations and the destruction of natural forests and wildlife habitats. They also expand industrial forestry and natural resource exploitation, while allowing businesses to continue extracting and using fossil fuels. For this reason, NbS has often been criticized for blocking the fundamental changes that are needed to solve the carbon crisis and biodiversity loss. NbS are often based on discredited market mechanisms and corporate greenwashing, and represent a new form of carbon-based neo-colonialism. NbS instrumentalizes nature as a solution without determining the causes and responsibility for the problem. NbS is not a quick solution to the fossil fuel problem and should not delay urgent action to decarbonize economies. NbS is only effective at artificially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and should not be used to delay mitigation measures in other sectors. For NbS to play a significant role in fighting the climate crisis, a legal and institutional mechanism must first be established to recognize nature as a victim of the climate crisis and to guarantee its rights. Second, NbS should include projects that protect and restore a wide range of natural ecosystems, both on land and at sea, rather than focusing entirely on reforestation and logging. Third, NbS should be implemented with the participation and consent of indigenous people and local communities and should be designed to cultivate their ability to adapt to climate change. Fourth, the monitoring and governance powers of civil society should be strengthened so that the efforts of governments and companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not diluted and are not used for greenwashing purposes. Finally, high baseline standards should be established internationally at all stages of NbS projects, from design to implementation to verification, and a strong regulatory device for environmental and human rights violations should be established.