SAN Colombia
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. Later, in 2020, citizen Antonio José Serrano Martínez filed a second lawsuit against the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and the National Environmental Licensing Authority, also seeking protection for the same ecosystem from mining activities. Due to their similarities, the lawsuits were reviewed and decided jointly.
The plaintiffs claimed that the exploration activities carried out by the Santander Mining Company SA (MINESA) had caused damage to the water star of the High Mountain of Santurbán, implying a high risk of serious and irreversible damage to the ecosystem and the threat to the rights to a healthy environment, ecological balance, and to safety and prevention of technically foreseeable disasters, in relation to the rights to access to water in conditions of quality and quantity, to health, to food security and to life.
The páramos are tropical, mountainous, high-altitude ecosystems characterized by a cold, humid climate, herbaceous vegetation, and peat soil, and are found mainly in the Andes Mountains.
The importance of the Santurbán Páramo lies in its function as a carbon sink, water regulator, and biodiversity reservoir. As such, its protection presupposes the enjoyment of several human rights, including access to clean water, a healthy environment, public health, food security, and sustainability.
On July 21, 2025, the Administrative Court of Santander declared the Santurbán Páramo ecosystem a subject of rights, ordering the Ministry of Environment to assume its legal representation. It also established that the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) must refrain from granting, extending, or modifying environmental or mining licenses in the páramo that would permit extractive activities in the area.
What stands out about the ruling is that the Court based its decision on Advisory Opinion OC-32/25 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of May 29, 2025, especially on the recognition of the obligation of States to set relevant legal standards on state duties of preservation, prevention and guarantee, and highlighted the obligation to take measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to recognize nature as a subject of rights.
The Court reiterated the need to provide comprehensive protection to the countless ecosystems that coexist worldwide. It further noted that climate change, along with other human activities such as mining and agriculture, has contributed to the structural and persistent threat to the existence of the páramo ecosystem. Finally, it concluded that there was a real risk that could significantly damage the páramo, thus requiring immediate and strengthened protection. The Court invoked intergenerational equity as a fundamental principle to support the recognition of the rights of nature. The decision is under appeal.
Implementation
The ruling issued in July 2025 sets a pioneering precedent connecting international climate jurisprudence with national environmental protection by defining the scope of states' obligations in the face of the climate crisis, within the framework of international human rights law. In this context, and with particular emphasis on the ecological dimension of human rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in Advisory Opinion OC-32/25, expressly addressed the issue of "protecting nature as a subject of rights," establishing relevant legal standards regarding states' duties of preservation, prevention, and guarantee.
The IACHR thoroughly examined the climate emergency from a human rights perspective, analyzing its causes (anthropogenic emissions, disproportionately generated by certain sectors and States) and devastating effects on the environment and humanity, especially on vulnerable populations such as indigenous peoples, children, and impoverished communities. It addresses the international response to climate change, including legal frameworks and international agreements, and underscores states' obligations for mitigation (emission reduction) and adaptation (impact prevention), urging cooperation and the adoption of policies based on the best available science. Finally, it highlights the importance of procedural rights such as access to information, public participation, effective justice, and the protection of environmental defenders as cornerstones for just and effective climate action.
The lawsuit contains specific arguments regarding climate change. It refers to the climate regulation services provided by the high mountain region, which acts as a carbon sink, thus positioning Santurbán as an ecosystem of international interest. At the same time, it also highlights the significant threat that climate change poses to the high mountain region, its ecosystem services, and the constitutional rights of Colombians, namely: water stress and a temperature increase of up to 2.5°C.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, these risks threaten the rights to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, and human security.
Santander has been classified by the National Water Study as one of the departments with the highest risk of water shortages, and one of the most affected municipalities is Bucaramanga.
- Members of the Committee for the Defense of Water and the Santurbán Páramo.
- Municipality of Bucaramanga.
- Members of the National Union of Workers and Employees of Public Services, Information Technologies, Communications, Television, the autonomous corporations, decentralized and territorial institutes of Colombia, Bucaramanga sub-branch (SINTAEMSDES).
- Leaders of the communities of the province of Soto Norte.
- Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.
- National Mining Agency.
- National Environmental Licensing Authority.
- Autonomous Regional Corporation for the Defense of the Bucaramanga Plateau -CDMB.
- Regional Autonomous Corporation of Norte de Santander - CORPONOR
- Santander Mining Company SAS
The Santurbán Páramo, located in the eastern mountain range of the Colombian Andes between Santander and Norte de Santander, is vital as the main water source for more than two million people, including the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga. It acts as a natural sponge, regulating river flow, and harbors unique biodiversity such as the frailejones (emblematic plants of the Andean páramos in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador), which retain moisture from the fog, converting it into water and storing large amounts of carbon in their soil. It is home to endangered species such as the spectacled bear and the condor, as well as 457 varieties of plants and 293 species of fauna.
Santurbán has been the subject of intense disputes, with efforts to prevent large-scale gold mining, which would protect the ecosystem from pollutants such as cyanide and arsenic. It is a key point in Colombia's páramo network, essential for moisture transport and climate connectivity.
The conservation of this ecosystem, which covers approximately 142,000 hectares, is considered fundamental for regional development and the well-being of future generations.
International Agreements/Treaties
- Rio Declaration of 1992
- United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, approved by Law 165 of 1994
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- Paris Agreement, approved by Law 1844 of 2017
- Advisory Opinion 23/17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
- Advisory Opinion 32/25 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
National laws
- Law 1931 of 2018, Climate Change Policy
- Law 99 of 1993
- Law 1753 of 2015
- Law 812 of 2003
- Law 1450 of 2011
- Decree 1076 of 2015
Principles :
- Caution
- In Dubio Pro Ambiente
- Due process in scientific research
- Intergenerational Equity
- Sustainable Development