Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

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.

A resident of Mexico City filed an injunction against the modification to NOM-016-CRE-2016, the standard for petroleum product quality specifications, issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission. The modification increased the percentage of ethanol in gasoline from 5.8% to 10% outside the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, and the Monterrey Metropolitan Area.

Two Mexican citizens filed a lawsuit seeking amparo (a constitutional remedy) against the removal, filling, and fragmentation of the mangrove forest located in Laguna del Carpintero in Tamaulipas. This action stemmed from the illegal construction—which lacked the required environmental impact authorization—of the Laguna del Carpintero Ecological Theme Park.

In December 2016, four taxes were incorporated into the State of Zacatecas's Finance Law as part of the chapter called "Ecological Taxes": (i) environmental remediation in the extraction of materials; (ii) emission of gases into the atmosphere; (iii) emission of pollutants into the soil, subsoil and water; and (iv) deposit or storage of waste.

The CNDH received a complaint regarding the lack of updating of the maximum limits of pollutants contained in the official Mexican standards (NOM) on environmental health, as well as the inadequate distribution in the national territory of good quality gasoline and diesel (which ensures proper functioning of motor vehicles and low emissions to the atmosphere).

In 2021, a group of 214 young people filed an injunction against the reform to the Electricity Industry Law, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on March 9, 2021. The main argument of the injunction is that the Mexican State is constitutionally obligated to carry out actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) and the Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) filed an amparo lawsuit against the Agreement that modifies article 31 of the General Administrative Provisions that establish the guidelines for the prevention and comprehensive control of methane emissions from the hydrocarbon sector (hereinafter the amending Agreement), published by the National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbon Sector (ASEA).

Two NGOs, Nuestros Derechos al Futuro y Medio Ambiente Sano, AC, and Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA), filed an amparo lawsuit against the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), challenging "Resolution No. A/018/2023", which updates the reference values of the methodologies to calculate the efficiency of electrical energy cogeneration systems and the criteria to determine efficient cogeneration, as well as the percentage of fuel-free energy.

On March 11, 2024, the representative of the community of San Bartolo Coyotepec in the State of Oaxaca filed a petition for amparo (a constitutional protection action) alleging a violation of their human right to a healthy environment due to the failure of municipal, state, and federal authorities to protect Benito Juárez National Park and the Ecological Reserve Zone and Protected Natural Area.

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.