Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Supreme Court of Justice of Panama, in a ruling of November 27, 2023, declared Article 1 of Law 406 of October 20, 2023, unconstitutional.

This law approved the mining concession contract between the Panamanian State and the company Minera Panamá, SA, and granted exclusive rights for the exploration, exploitation and extraction of gold, copper and other minerals in the area of "Cerro Petaquilla", located in the district of Donoso, in the province of Colón, Panama.

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.

This is a Public Civil Action (ACP) filed by the organizations Costa Legal, UFECO, and the Pachamama Association, with legal support from GPDA and OJE/UFSC. Subsequently, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF), the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Santa Catarina (MPSC), and the National Association of People Affected by Dams (ANAB) joined the action.

This Direct Action of Unconstitutionality for Omission (ADO) was filed by the Rede Sustentabilidade (Rede) party against President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Environment Minister Ricardo de Aquino Salles for failing to combat biomass loss in the Amazon. The party argued that the defendants failed to comply with Articles 23 and 225 of the Federal Constitution, as evidenced by the increasing deforestation in the Amazon since 2019.

Political parties filed an Allegation of Non-Compliance with the Fundamental Precept (ADPF, for its acronym in Portuguese) before the Supreme Federal Court through which they demanded the "Non-operation of the Climate Change Fund" by the Federal Government (the Union).

Political parties filed an Allegation of Noncompliance with the Fundamental Precept (ADPF, for its acronym in Portuguese) against the Union, given that it has not adopted urgent measures aimed at effectively combating deforestation in the legal Amazon and the climate emergency.

In August 2023, a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) with a request for precautionary measures was filed by the Rede Sustentabilidade party, accompanied by six civil society organizations as signatories, before the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil. The action challenges the constitutionality of articles of State Law No. 18.104/2013 (Goiás Forestry Code) and State Law No.

The Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) filed a Fundamental Rights Action (ADPF) with a request for an injunction before the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The action sought to correct alleged unconstitutional omissions and inaction by the Federal Public Power that had paralyzed the paving policy for the BR-319 highway, located in the northern region of the country, between Amazonas and Rondônia.

The Climate Observatory filed a Public Civil Action (ACP) against IBAMA and DNIT, requesting the annulment of Prior License (LP) No. 672/2022, issued for the reconstruction and paving of the “central section” of the BR-319 highway (km 250.7 to km 656.4), in the heart of the Amazon. The organization argues that the paving would reactivate historical dynamics of deforestation, land grabbing (grilagem), agricultural expansion, and pressure on public lands, as occurred in the 1970s and 1980s with the BR-163 and BR-230 highways.

In 2020, Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) filed a "Civil Action of Administrative Imprudence" (ACIA) against Ricardo Salles, then Minister of the Environment, requesting his preventive removal from office.