Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

In July 2025, the organizations Project for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ProDESC) and the Mexican Center for Environmental Defense (DAN) submitted a request to the Office of the President of Mexico and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), with a copy to the National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbons Sector (ASEA), regarding the adoption of measures related to the evaluation, authorization, and operation of projects for the transportation, storage, and supply of liquefied

En enero de 2023, el demandante solicitó al Instituto Nacional de Protección de Datos (INAI), acceso al Diagnóstico de Emisiones de Metano de Pemex Logistics (parte de la petrolera estatal mexicana), documento que la entidad debía presentar ante la Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Industrial y Protección Ambiental en el Sector Hidrocarburo (ASEA) y que detallaba, entre otra información, la cantidad de emisiones de metano que generaba.

On January 22, 2025, the indigenous community of Tintaya Marquiri, located in the province of Espinar, in the department of Cusco, filed a complaint with the Superior Prosecutor's Office of the National Coordination of Specialized Prosecutor's Offices for Environmental Crimes against the Antapaccay mining company , a subsidiary of the Swiss transnational corporation Glencore, which they accuse of being responsible for serious environmental damage in their territory.

In August 2024, a group of female fisherwomen, accompanied by the Tsikini AC organization from the State of Colima, filed an injunction against various authorities, including the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), for the damage caused by the Manzanillo Thermoelectric Power Plant (the second largest thermoelectric plant in Mexico, which uses fuel oil and gas), alleging the violation of the human right to a healthy environment, to health, and the lack of compliance with climate commitments.

Residents of Tocopilla, accompanied by the environmental organizations Chile Sustentable, Greenpeace and the Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), filed a protection appeal before the Santiago Court of Appeals requesting that the immediate cessation of the forced and accelerated burning of the excess coal from the Norgener thermoelectric power plant (composed of the Norgener 1 and 2 units) of the company AES Andes SA, which amounts to 94,000 tons, be ordered.

AIDA, the women's group MUZOSARE, and the civil society organization Chile Sustentable filed an administrative appeal with the National Energy Commission (CNE) to invalidate the regulation issued by that same body in October 2021, which governs the "inflexible gas" system for the entire country. This system prioritizes electricity generated from fossil gas combustion for inclusion in the grid, displacing other energy sources, including renewables.

A group of unions of independent workers dedicated to artisanal fishing sued the National Electricity Company (ENDESA) for environmental damage.

The plaintiffs indicated that the Bocamina 1 and 2 units of the Bocamina Thermoelectric Complex, owned by the company in question, had been emitting chemical substances such as arsenic, chromium, zinc and mercury, among others, for years, at levels that exceed the maximums allowed by Chilean laws.

The Attorney General's Office, with the support of civil society organizations, filed a direct action of unconstitutionality (No. 6148) against the Federal Government for its unconstitutional omission regarding Resolution No. 491/2018 of the National Environmental Council, which establishes air quality parameters.

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.

In 2019, Greenpeace Mexico filed an injunction against the Program for Addressing Atmospheric Environmental Contingencies in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Toluca and the Metropolitan Area of Santiago Tianguistenco (hereinafter the Program), issued by the Ministry of the Environment of the Government of the State of Mexico, arguing that it violates the human right to a healthy environment by failing to comply with the Official Mexican Standards NOM-020-SSA1-2014 “Environmental Health.