Guyana
The case concerns a lawsuit against the Guyanese government's approval of an ExxonMobil oil megaproject off the coast of Guyana, which has potential climate impacts. The plaintiffs argued that this approval violates the right to a healthy environment, protected by the Guyanese Constitution, as well as the rights of future generations to sustainable development. It is the first climate litigation case in the Caribbean.
ExxonMobil's massive oil project in Guyana represents the company's largest oil exploration venture outside the Permian Basin in the United States. Exxon has reported discoveries of 9 billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas off the coast of Guyana.
An oil and gas industry is difficult to reconcile with Guyana's international environmental commitments and its Constitution, according to lawyer Ronald Burch-Smith, but in accordance with Guyana's constitutional obligations to guarantee the right to a non-harmful environment, it must refrain from authorizing activities that significantly contribute to climate change, ocean acidification and/or sea level rise.
The plaintiffs are firmly convinced that, based on Dr. Thomas's research, which was attached to the claim, the court should declare that the direct emission of 22,030,000 tons of greenhouse gases from oil operations in the Liza Development Project Phase 1, the proposed direct emission of 34,545,000 tons of greenhouse gases from the Liza Development Project Phase 2, and the proposed direct emission of 35,720,000 tons of greenhouse gases from oil operations in the Payara Development Project would make the environment more detrimental to the health and well-being of citizens and future generations by significantly exacerbating and/or contributing to climate change.
- Citizens of Guyana
- Ministry of Natural Resources of the State of Guyana.
The case comes amid growing local scrutiny of ExxonMobil's increased gas flaring at an offshore well, due to recurring problems with gas compression equipment and the resulting impact on marine and fishery resources. The government fined the company $1.3 million and tightened the conditions of its environmental license.
The case also has repercussions for the Rupununi Region of Southern Guyana, an area rich in biodiversity and currently threatened by climate change, where several indigenous communities live and produce economically, and where one of the plaintiffs in the case is native, identifying the indigenous population as vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Previously, the United Nations Human Rights Committee called on Guyanese authorities to respond to concerns that the nation's expansion in oil and gas production would negatively affect human rights, including those of the most vulnerable groups.
Standards
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
- Paris Agreement.
- Guyana's NDC.
- Constitution of Guyana.
- Environmental Protection Law.
Beginning
- Equity and Intergenerational Solidarity.
- Interculturality.
- Precautionary.
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