Entre Ríos Argentina
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 Principle of Cooperation- in relation to the joint treatment of the mitigation and environmental emergencies of transboundary effects.
The legal action was filed as a result of the fires and blazes that occurred on the Victoria Islands, located off the coast of the city of Rosario. The plaintiffs stated that these events demonstrate poor government management in the Paraná Delta and non-compliance with environmental regulations, and that they cause damage to the area's biodiversity and violate the fundamental rights to a healthy environment, life, and health of thousands of people, especially thousands of children and future generations.
This case has the file number: CSJ 000542/2020-00 - “CIVIL ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND OTHERS V/ ENTRE RÍOS, PROVINCE OF AND OTHERS S/ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
It is important to differentiate between the claim for protection and the precautionary measure:
Protection:
● Declare the “Paraná Delta”, an essential ecosystem for climate change mitigation and adaptation, a Subject of Law
● An Environmental Territorial Planning and a Land Use Regulation Plan should be developed and implemented in the island territory, as a correlate to the declaration of this ecosystem as “at risk from climate change”
● Designate, under the purview of the National State, the figure of “guardian” of the Paraná Delta Subject
● Urgently arrange for citizen participation
Precautionary measure:
● Creation of an Interjurisdictional Climate Change Emergency Committee for the Paraná Delta, with the power to manage and monitor the Paraná Delta (while the case is being processed).
● Order the prohibition and suspension of any burning, clearing, soil removal, construction and human intervention that alters the ecosystem of the region called Delta del Paraná until a new land use plan for the Delta del Paraná is determined.
● Order the generation of complete cadastral and ownership information detailing the owners of private properties and identifying public parcels in the Paraná Delta, specifying the type of activity being carried out. This information is essential for developing a management plan for the Paraná Delta.
In analyzing the case, the Supreme Court highlighted the existence of several collective environmental protection processes that have the same object and the same cause, with related claims, and with a relationship of continence that determines their accumulation.
In this regard, the judges explained that the accumulation of processes is justified by the need to avert the risk of contradictory decisions that would result from the independent treatment of claims that are linked.
On December 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (CSJN) declared itself competent through its original jurisdiction and ordered the consolidation of the cases, whose files will be processed separately and a single judgment will be issued. The following cases are consolidated due to their related subject matter:
- CSJ 468/2020 “Equística Defensa del Medio Ambiente Aso. Civ. v. Santa Fe, Province of and others re: environmental protection”
- FRO 11327/2020/CA1-CS1 “Peyrano, Marcos Lisandro v. Province of Entre Ríos re: collective amparo”
- CSJ 487/2020 “Cesanelli, Valentín and others v. Entre Ríos Province on environmental protection”
- CSJ 1578/2020 “Civil Association with Legal Personality Objetivos Rosario v. Superior Government of the Province of Entre Ríos re: amparo”
- FRO 70952/2018/CS1 “Favario, Iván Leopoldo and another v. Province of Entre Ríos and another re: preliminary measures”.
The current status of the case is ongoing, with the Supreme Court overseeing the process for its resolution. Important procedural steps have been taken, such as the declaration of jurisdiction and the consolidation of cases, but a final ruling on the plaintiffs' claims has not yet been reached. The action seeks to have the Paraná Delta recognized as a legal entity and to implement an environmental land-use plan and a territorial development plan.
The Amparo Action contains specific elements regarding climate change. For example, it points out that wetlands provide multiple goods and services such as water supply, flood control, habitat for biodiversity, aquifer recharge, and climate change mitigation, among others.
Knowledge about the attributes and functions of wetlands has increased, positively impacting their value and positioning on international, national, and local agendas. Therefore, damaged wetlands fulfill, and will continue to fulfill for future generations, multiple ecological functions vital for climate change adaptation, such as water storage and retention, freshwater supply for consumption and production, aquifer recharge and discharge, salinity regulation and soil protection, coastal stabilization, pollutant retention and moderation of extreme weather conditions, and the provision of resources for agricultural, fishing, and tourism activities.
- Association Civil for Environmental Justice
- Paraná Ecologist Forum
- A group of children represented by their parents
- Province of Entre Ríos
- The Municipality of the City of Victoria
- The Province of Santa Fe
- The Province of Buenos Aires
The city of Rosario is located in the southern part of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, and is adjacent to the Paraná Delta wetland, which is an ecosystem that, in addition to harboring a rich biological diversity, fulfills various environmental services such as the recharge and discharge of aquifers, flood control, retention of sediments and nutrients, stabilization of coasts, protection against erosion, climate regulation, and an extensive list of goods and services.
Standards
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Rio de Janeiro Declaration
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, approved by Law 24.295.
- Convention on Biological Diversity approved by Law 24375
- Paris Agreement, approved by Law 27.270
- Advisory Opinion 23/17 on the Environment and Human Rights of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
- National Constitution
- General Environmental Law No. 25,675
- Children's Law No. 26.061
- Law 27520 on minimum budgets for adaptation and mitigation to global climate change
- Minimum budget law No. 26562 for environmental protection for the control of burning activities
- Law 23.919 Ramsar Convention
Beginning
- Intergenerational equity
- Solidarity
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