Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

Greenpeace Mexico, in a joint strategy with the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, filed an injunction against the Agreement to guarantee the efficiency, quality, reliability, continuity and security of the National Electric System, issued by the National Energy Control Center and the Agreement that issues the Policy of Reliability, Security, Continuity and Quality in the National Electric System, published by the Ministry of Energy.

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 Private Corporation for the Development of Aysén (CODESA), together with the Corporation for the Defense of Flora and Fauna (CODEFF), and Hugo Díaz Manríquez, filed a complaint for non-compliance with their public comments against the resolution that approved the Cuervo Hydroelectric Plant Project, submitted by the company Energía Austral to the Environmental Impact Assessment Service (SEIA) on August 13, 2009, through an Environmental Impact Study.

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.

The Community Aqueduct Network of southern Santander and various peasant communities initiated legal action because the National Mining Agency (ANM) granted a license to Zurich International Trading, the company holding the coal mining project and the main company singled out by the communities, due to inconsistencies in the instruments that support the mining project.

The Institute of Lawyers for Environmental Protection, INSAPROMA, and the National Committee for the Fight against Climate Change, CNLCC, filed a constitutional action for protection of compliance against the President of the Republic, the Minister of Energy and Mines, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs; the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, the Superintendency of Electricity; the National Energy Commission and the Executive Vice President of the National Council for Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism for fail

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).

Greenpeace Argentina, along with the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers, Surfrider Argentina, Fundación Patagonia Natural, Kula Earth, the Argentine Surf Association, Organización Mar, the Necochea Quequén Surf Association, the General Alvarado Surf Association (Miramar), and Ecos de Mar, filed an injunction and a request for a preliminary injunction against the Argentine State, the Secretariat of Energy, and the Ministry of the Environment.

In 2013, the Yasunidos collective and others launched a referendum initiative to allow citizens to decide whether the oil in Block 43-ITT (Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini) should remain indefinitely beneath Yasuní National Park. The process was plagued by administrative disputes related to signature validation and the actions of electoral authorities, preventing the referendum from taking place for nearly a decade.