Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

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

In October 2025, a group of eight organizations—Observatório do Clima, Greenpeace Brasil, WWF-Brasil, Instituto Arayara, APIB, COIAB, CONFREM, and CONAQ—filed a Public Civil Action before the Federal Court in the state of Amazonas against the Brazilian Institute of the Environment (IBAMA), Petrobras, and the Federal Union, seeking the suspension and subsequent annulment of the environmental license granted for exploratory drilling in Block FZA-M-59.

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).

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

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.

On August 1, 2023, the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN) filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent national authorities, including the Secretariat of Climate Change, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, and the Secretariat of Energy, from granting consent for marine seismic exploration and/or the exploitation of marine fossil fuels until a proper environmental impact assessment and a strategic environmental assessment are carried out, as the environmental impact assessment already conducted was deemed deficient.

A group of children and young people residing in Xochimilco, Mexico City, filed an injunction against the construction of the Periférico-Cuemanco vehicular bridge, which would be located in the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City. The project was authorized by the Mexico City Ministry of Public Works and Services and awarded to the company IDINSA SA de CV.

Residents of southern Mexico City, including children and people aged 60 and over, filed a lawsuit against the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) and the Mexican Air Navigation Services (SENEAM) for the redesign of the airspace of the Valley of Mexico.

The plaintiffs argue in their initial complaint that the airspace redesign violates the following rights:

Greenpeace Mexico filed an injunction against several Mexican authorities for the preparation and approval of the revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), updated in 2020, arguing that they violate the right to a healthy environment and the principle of progressivity by (i) relaxing the unconditional target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 22% in relation to the target established in 2015, (ii) increasing the business as usual (BAU) baseline, and (iii) enabling a greater emission of tons of carbon di