Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

On January 11, 2024, the Peruvian Congress published in the Official Gazette El Peruano Law No. 31973, a law that resulted from Bill 649-2021-CR (and others of a similar nature) with which:

1. Articles 29 and 33 of the Forestry and Wildlife Law - Law No. 29763 - are amended, referring to the procedure and competence to establish permanent production forests and to approve forest zoning.

In August 2023, the Institute for Legal Defense of the Environment and Sustainable Development (hereinafter, “IDLADS PERÚ”) initiated an action for compliance with the Sixteenth Final Complementary Provision of the Regulations of the Framework Law on Climate Change against the Ministry of the Environment, Law No.

In 2016, two citizens of the State of Veracruz filed an injunction against the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) for the authorization of the expansion works of the Port of Veracruz Project, alleging the violation of the right to a healthy environment due to the impact on the protected natural area: Veracruz Reef System National Park (PNSAV) and other reefs in the area not officially identified .

Citizens, fishermen, merchants and people from indigenous communities of Pajapan, Veracruz, from the Pajapan Beach, Veracruz affected by an oil spill on the coasts and Laguna del Ostión, supported by the Regional Indigenous Movement in Defense and Respect for Life and the Human Rights Center of the peoples of Southern Veracruz "Bety Cariño" filed an indirect amparo lawsuit against discriminatory acts towards the Nahuatl peoples and their ancestral commercial activities.

In September 2025, Nuestro Futuro AC, along with allied organizations and individuals, filed an injunction in Sonora on behalf of the whales that inhabit, migrate, and reproduce in the Gulf of California. This unprecedented action in Mexico seeks to have the courts recognize whales as subjects of rights and, consequently, grant enhanced legal protection to their habitat. The lawsuit was accepted by a federal judge, allowing the whales to formally become plaintiffs in the proceedings.

In 2024, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, AC (CEMDA) filed an injunction on behalf of the community of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, against the omission of the authority to submit the San Mex project to public consultation.

On March 10, 2021, Greenpeace Mexico filed an injunction with the First District Court for Administrative Matters Specialized in Economic Competition, Broadcasting, and Telecommunications, challenging the constitutionality of the amendments to the Electricity Industry Law and the National Electricity Sector Development Program 2020-2034. In its lawsuit, Greenpeace also requested the suspension of the implementation of both regulations.

On June 22, 2022, Greenpeace Mexico filed an injunction with the Third District Court for Administrative Matters Specialized in Economic Competition, Broadcasting, and Telecommunications against the National Electricity System Development Program 2022-2036 (PRODESEN 2022-2036), a national public policy instrument regarding the development of the electricity system.

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.

On May 26, 2023, Agreement No. A/018/2023 of the Energy Regulatory Commission was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, updating the reference values of the methodologies for calculating the efficiency of electrical energy cogeneration systems and the criteria for determining efficient cogeneration, as well as the efficiency criteria and calculation methodology for determining the percentage of fuel-free energy established in resolutions RES/003/2011, RES/206/2014, RES/291/2012 and RES/1838/2016, respectively.