Guyana
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.
The EPA granted Esso permits valid until 2040 and 2043. In an affidavit supporting the lawsuit, Thomas argued that issuing such an extensive permit, in violation of the law, exposed Guyana and the rest of the world to serious, if not irreparable, damage and adverse consequences from climate change.
On October 7, 2020, the Supreme Court of Guyana issued a consent order accepting an agreement between Thomas, the EPA, and Esso. The EPA agreed to reduce the permits' validity to five years, so they would expire in 2022 and 2024. The Court also ordered the EPA to pay Thomas's legal costs.
The case is considered a landmark lawsuit against Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because the main arguments highlight actions to curb environmental risks and climate change.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs explicitly incorporated the context of the global climate crisis as a central argument in challenging the legality of the more than 20-year permits granted to Esso (an ExxonMobil subsidiary) to extract oil, arguing that they violated the Environmental Protection Law, which limited such permits to a maximum of five years. They also argued that the approval of these permits, which exacerbate climate change and threaten to generate billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions, violated citizens' constitutional right to a healthy and safe environment.
The decision issued by the Supreme Court of Guyana forced the EPA to reduce the duration of the permits for the Liza 1 and Liza 2 projects.
- Citizens of Guyana
- Dr. Troy Thomas
- Abogados: Seenath Jairam SC and Melinda Janki
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The territory of Guyana covers an approximate area of 214,970 km² in northern South America, although approximately 82% of it is under international dispute due to historical border claims by its neighboring countries.
Guyana faces significant challenges from climate change, experiencing frequent droughts and floods that have caused substantial economic losses, while simultaneously developing its oil industry with projects such as Hammerhead, an ExxonMobil initiative to extract oil in deep waters.
This context presents a tension between the need to adapt to climate impacts and the exploitation of fossil resources, although the country seeks to frame its energy development under the umbrella of sustainability and investment in human capital.
International agreements/treaties
- Paris Agreement
National laws
- Environmental Protection Act of 1996
Beginning
- Principle of prevention
- Precautionary principle
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