Climate Litigation Cases in Latin America and the Caribbean

In 2015, a Peruvian farmer filed a lawsuit in the Essen District Court in Germany against the energy company Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk (RWE). The plaintiff alleged that the company contributed to climate change by emitting substantial volumes of greenhouse gases and bore some responsibility for the melting of mountain glaciers near the city of Huaraz. This melting led to an increase in the volume of the Palcacocha glacial lake, causing flooding in the area.

Marco Antonio Arana Zegarra filed a writ of amparo against Directoral Resolution 351-2010-MEM/AAM, dated October 27, 2010, issued by the Directorate of Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, which approves the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) of the Conga Project presented by Minera Yanacocha SRL

A group of minors (born between 2005 and 2011) represented by their parents filed a constitutional appeal against the Peruvian State, demanding its failure to formulate and implement a national public policy and regional action plans with concrete measures to stop the deforestation of the Peruvian Amazon.

In 2018, the City of Bucaramanga filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the National Environmental Licensing Authority, and two regional environmental authorities (the Regional Autonomous Corporation for the Defense of the Bucaramanga Plateau - CDMB and the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Norte de Santander - CORPONOR), seeking protection for the Santurbán Páramo from mining activities.

In 2023, a Public Civil Action was filed by the Preservar Institute, the Gaucho Association for the Protection of the Natural Environment (AGAPAN), and Friends of the Earth Center – Brazil against the Federal Union, IBAMA, ANEEL, Eletrobras CGT Eletrosul, the State of Rio Grande do Sul, FEPAM, and Companhia Riograndense de Mineração (CRM). It was annexed to case no. 5007143-39.2025.4.04.7110, filed by the Arayara International Institute.

Guyanese scientist Dr. Troy Thomas filed a lawsuit against Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Supreme Court, alleging that the 23-year permits the EPA had granted to Esso Exploration (an Exxon subsidiary) for oil exploration violated the Environmental Protection Act regulations, which limited the duration of such permits to 5 years.

This is a Public Civil Action (ACP) filed by the organizations Costa Legal, UFECO, and the Pachamama Association, with legal support from GPDA and OJE/UFSC. Subsequently, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF), the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Santa Catarina (MPSC), and the National Association of People Affected by Dams (ANAB) joined the action.

The lawsuit is a Public Civil Action filed by the Arayara Institute against the National Ports Administration (ANP), the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Colombian Institute of Biodiversity (ICMBio), and the Federal Union, challenging the legality of including eleven oil exploration blocks in the SPOT-AP2 Sector of the Potiguar Basin within the 4th Permanent Concession Offer Cycle.

The case originated with a precautionary action filed by five civil society organizations, later converted into a public civil action (ACP), to challenge the environmental licensing process for the Nova Seival thermoelectric power plant (UTE), the largest coal-fired thermoelectric project in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

This Direct Action of Unconstitutionality for Omission (ADO) was filed by the Rede Sustentabilidade (Rede) party against President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Environment Minister Ricardo de Aquino Salles for failing to combat biomass loss in the Amazon. The party argued that the defendants failed to comply with Articles 23 and 225 of the Federal Constitution, as evidenced by the increasing deforestation in the Amazon since 2019.