Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

The organization Equística Defensa del Medio Ambiente (Equística Environmental Defense) filed a collective environmental protection action against the Municipality of Rosario, the Province of Santa Fe, the Municipality of Victoria, the Province of Entre Ríos, and the National Government, due to the illegal fires occurring on the chain of islands off the coast of the city of Rosario, which were seriously affecting the health of the inhabitants.

The Self-Convened Environmentalists Organization filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Mercedes against Araucaria Energy SA for preventative environmental damage related to the construction, installation, and/or operation of the Luján II Thermoelectric Power Plant. The lawsuit requests the immediate cessation of construction and power generation activities at the plant until a sustainable electricity generation system is designed or the plant's location is changed.

The Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN) filed a lawsuit against Resolutions 789/2017 and 813/2017, issued by the Environmental Protection Directorate (DPA), which authorized the oil company El Trébol (PETSA) to explore and exploit oil using the fracking method in four wells located near the Llancanelo Lagoon (Ramsar Site of international importance).

On April 9, 2018, the NGO OIKOS Environmental Network filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality and international human rights standards of Decree No. 248/2018 issued by the Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, and Energy of the Province of Mendoza. This decree regulates the environmental impact assessment procedure for hydrocarbon exploration and extraction activities in unconventional formations (fracking).

The organizations Asociación Civil por la Justicia Ambiental, Foro Ecologista de Paraná and a group of children residing in the City of Rosario, represented by their parents, filed a Collective Environmental Protection Action before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation against the Province of Entre Ríos and the Municipality of the City of Victoria, for omissions and non-compliance in relation to the duty to preserve the integrity of the wetlands of the Paraná Delta, and against the Province of Santa Fe and the Province of Buenos Aires -by virtue of the

Two Mexican citizens filed a lawsuit seeking amparo (a constitutional remedy) against the removal, filling, and fragmentation of the mangrove forest located in Laguna del Carpintero in Tamaulipas. This action stemmed from the illegal construction—which lacked the required environmental impact authorization—of the Laguna del Carpintero Ecological Theme Park.

The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) and the Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) filed an amparo lawsuit against the Agreement that modifies article 31 of the General Administrative Provisions that establish the guidelines for the prevention and comprehensive control of methane emissions from the hydrocarbon sector (hereinafter the amending Agreement), published by the National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbon Sector (ASEA).

A group of minors (born between 2005 and 2011) represented by their parents filed a constitutional appeal against the Peruvian State, demanding its failure to formulate and implement a national public policy and regional action plans with concrete measures to stop the deforestation of the Peruvian Amazon.

The Public Prosecutor's Office of Joinville promoted a public civil action against the corporation H. Carlos Schneider S/A Commerce and Industry and Others, for filling and draining a mangrove forest on an urban property, despite the fact that the environmental agencies Brazilian Institute of Forest Development (IBDF) and Santa Catarina Environment Institute (FATMA) issued negative technical notices to carry out works on said property.

The Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén, the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights of Neuquén and the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers filed a criminal complaint against the heads of the Secretariat of Territorial Development and Environment and the Undersecretariat of Environment, and the companies YPFSA and SPM Argentina SA (subsidiary of Schlumberger Argentina and Schlumberger Oilfield Eastern Ltd., of the United States), for their responsibility regarding the hydrocarbon spill that oc