The Climate Docket

WHAT WE COVER:

  • Liability Litigation
    • Baltimore Lawsuit
    • California Climate Lawsuits
    • Colorado Lawsuit
    • Mass. v. Exxon
    • New York City Lawsuit
    • Rhode Island Lawsuit
    • Other Suits
  • Access to Courts
    • Liability Waivers
    • State Legislation
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / International / Colombian Court Orders Government to Stop Deforestation, Protect Climate
Colombian Court Orders Government to Stop Deforestation, Protect Climate

Colombian Court Orders Government to Stop Deforestation, Protect Climate

April 5, 2018 Filed Under: International, Liability Litigation

print
By Ucilia Wang

An appeals court in Colombia on Thursday reversed a lower court decision and ruled that the country’s government, from the president to local municipalities, must create and implement plans within five months to stop deforestation in the Amazon.

The court, in 4-3 ruling, also said that the Amazon enjoys legal rights and protection under the law, an unusual but not unprecedented concept. Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled last year that the heavily polluted Atrato River in northwestern Columbia has rights to protection and conservation. With that opinion, the court ordered the government to clean up the river, which was contaminated by mercury mining.

“We were thrilled with the result. The ruling was beautifully written, and it’s refreshing and novel on the importance of nature, not only for humans but also its intrinsic value. And it recognizes the rights of the future generations,” said Camila Bustos, a researcher with Dejusticia, the advocacy group that brought the Amazon case. It was filed on behalf of 25 young people, ages 7 to 26, in January.

The young plaintiffs asked the court to protect their constitutional rights to life, a healthy environment, and food and water by ordering the government to honor its commitment to tackling climate change, including stopping the country’s worsening deforestation.

The country lost 178,597 acres of forests in 2016, a 44 percent jump from the year before, Dejusticia said in the court filing. Most of the increases took place in the Amazon rainforest.

“The historic decision of Colombia’s Supreme Court demonstrates that Colombia and the Global South are joining the movement of people who, through the courts, are demanding their governments take more effective and more immediate steps to confront climate change,” said Astrid Puentes Riaño, co-executive director of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense, a legal advocacy group.

Climate cases involving similar constitutional claims have been filed in other countries. In the U.S., a federal case brought by 21 young people, Juliana v. United States, won a crucial victory last month when an appeals court ruled against the federal government and allowed the case to proceed to trial.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which hears cases brought by countries in Central and South America, recently issued a landmark opinion that equates environmental protection with human rights. That opinion could impact interpretations of existing laws and force governments to tackle climate change more aggressively.

Dejusticia filed the case as a tutela, a mechanism created in 1991 that guarantees citizens prompt court consideration on claims of constitutional rights violations.

The government cannot appeal the decision of the appeals court. But the case could be selected by the Constitutional Court for review because constitutional claims in climate cases are uncommon, Bustos said.

The appeals court decision is sweeping and requires national and local authorities to carry out its mandate within five months.

It ordered the president’s office and the environmental ministry to create short- and long-term plans for stopping deforestation. The government also must create a plan, with input from the plaintiffs, scientists and members of communities in the Amazon, to prevent deforestation and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The court also required local municipalities to update their land management plans to include measures for addressing climate impacts. And it requires regional environmental authorities to craft plans to prevent deforestation.

“The high court not only agrees with the plaintiffs’ reasoning, but also stressed that the government has been inefficient in its task,” Dejusticia said in a statement. “In addition, the Court states that the country is facing ‘imminent and serious damage’ because deforestation causes ‘the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, producing the greenhouse effect, which transforms and fragments ecosystems, and alters the water resource.'”

The plaintiffs filed the tutela as much of Colombia opens to development for the first time. More than five decades of fighting between the government and rebel forces kept much of Colombia’s land in conflict zones. The government and rebels signed a peace treaty in 2016 to end the fighting, opening its Amazon rainforests to the dangers of overdevelopment.

“This is a historic ruling both nationally and internationally,” said César Rodríguez Garavito, director of Dejusticia. “At the national level, it categorically recognizes that future generations are subject to rights, and it orders the government to take concrete actions to protect the country and planet in which they live.” 

The decision also sets a legal precedent for other climate change lawsuits. “The ruling is a fundamental step in the direction that other courts have been taking worldwide, ordering governments to fulfill and increase their commitments to address climate change,” Rodriguez said. “In this case, in addition to coalescing the scientific consensus on the importance of forests in climate change mitigation, the decision further declared the Amazon a subject of rights, allowing the protection of this essential ecosystem for Colombia and humanity.”

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: International, Liability Litigation

Don't Miss a story
Subscribe 
We promise not to spam you. Unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.

Trackbacks

  1. Colombian court orders government to stop deforestation, protect climate – World is Crazy says:
    April 6, 2018 at 8:21 am

    […] Colombian court orders government to stop deforestation, protect climate https://www.climatedocket.com/2018/04/05/colombia-amazon-climate-change-deforestation/ […]

  2. Høyesterettsdom i Columbia kan bli historisk viktig for regnskog i Amazonas | Naturpress says:
    April 6, 2018 at 10:32 am

    […] 25 unge mennesker i Dejusticia står bak arbeidet med å få saken opp i retten, og de 25 er i alderen 7 til 26 år, ifølge Climate Liability News. […]

  3. Justice climatique : en Colombie, une décision historique contre la déforestation | Mirmande PatrimoineS Blogue says:
    April 16, 2018 at 3:30 am

    […] le commentaire de leur décision, les juges ont enjoint le gouvernement, les gouverneurs des différentes provinces et les municipalités d’élaborer un […]

  4. Netherlands works to overturn landmark Urgenda climate ruling says:
    May 24, 2018 at 1:42 pm

    […] inspired lawsuits subsequently filed in countries such as Norway, Pakistan, Ireland, Belgium, Colombia, Switzerland and New […]

  5. These kids and young adults want their day in court on climate change | DJG Blogger says:
    October 23, 2018 at 7:18 am

    […] emergency is growing around the world, resulting in decisions in Pakistan, the Netherlands, and Colombia that ordered the authorities to act. These cases are all based on similar legal arguments: that […]

  6. These kids and young adults want their day in court on climate change – Above Big Tech says:
    October 23, 2018 at 7:26 am

    […] emergency is growing around the world, resulting in decisions in Pakistan, the Netherlands, and Colombia that ordered the authorities to act. These cases are all based on similar legal arguments: that […]

  7. Why a Group of Kids Is Suing the Federal Government Over Climate Change | The Inertia says:
    October 23, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    […] emergency is growing around the world, resulting in decisions in Pakistan, the Netherlands, and Colombia that ordered the authorities to act. These cases are all based on similar legal arguments: that […]

  8. These Kids and Young Adults Want Their Day in Court on Climate Change - The Good Men Project says:
    November 4, 2018 at 1:13 am

    […] emergency is growing around the world, resulting in decisions in Pakistan, the Netherlands, and Colombia that ordered the authorities to act. These cases are all based on similar legal arguments: that […]

  9. France, home of the Paris Agreement, sued for lack of climate progress says:
    December 20, 2018 at 11:07 am

    […] governments accountable for inadequate climate action. In April, the Supreme Court of Colombia decided in favor of young plaintiffs suing the government over human rights abuses stemming from climate change and deforestation. The […]

  10. Romanian Environmental News – Romanian Environmental News says:
    May 14, 2019 at 4:19 pm

    […] including from Canada, Peru, Philippines, Uganda, and in the EU and UK. Last year, citizens in Colombia, Pakistan and the Netherlands won the climate change battle in defense of their human and […]

  11. These kids and young adults want their day in court on climate change – SpaceEDGE says:
    October 26, 2019 at 4:01 am

    […] emergency is growing around the world, resulting in decisions in Pakistan, the Netherlands, and Colombia that ordered the authorities to act. These cases are all based on similar legal arguments: that […]

  12. The Energy 202: Youth climate lawsuit dismissal shows challenge of using courts to tackle climate change | Seeing2020 says:
    January 21, 2020 at 8:27 am

    […] court in Colombia ordered government to come up with a plan to combat climate change and stop the destruction of the Amazon, […]

  13. Analysis | The Energy 202: Youth climate lawsuit dismissal shows challenge of using courts to tackle climate change – LIVESUPWAY says:
    January 21, 2020 at 9:33 am

    […] court in Colombia ordered government to come up with a plan to combat climate change and stop the destruction of the Amazon, […]

  14. The Energy 202: Youth climate lawsuit dismissal shows challenge of using courts to tackle climate change | ZUKUS THE VIRAL COMMUNITY says:
    January 21, 2020 at 4:23 pm

    […] court in Colombia ordered government to come up with a plan to combat climate change and stop the destruction of the Amazon, […]

  15. Analysis: Dismissal of climate lawsuit shows challenge of using courts – libellus says:
    January 21, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    […] court in Colombia ordered government to come up with a plan to combat climate change and stop the destruction of the Amazon, […]

Don't Miss a story
Subscribe 
We promise not to spam you. Unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.

Latest News

Justice Dept. to Argue on Side of Oil Companies in Supreme Court Hearing

By Karen Savage The acting solicitor general will be allowed time to argue in support of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP and nearly two dozen other companies next week during oral arguments before … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • Will Amy Coney Barrett, Whose Father Was a Shell Attorney for Decades, Recuse from Climate Suit?
  • Justice Dept. to Argue on Side of Oil Companies in Supreme Court Hearing
  • Oil Companies Ask Supreme Court to Decide Jurisdiction of More Climate Cases
  • Climate Suits Grew in 2020, Could Clear Huge Hurdle in 2021

Most Popular

  • Will Amy Coney Barrett, Whose Father Was a Shell Attorney for Decades, Recuse from Climate Suit?
  • French Government Sued for Inadequate Climate Action
  • Vulnerable Nations Call for Ecocide to Be Recognized As an International Crime
  • What Oil Companies Knew About Climate Change and When: A Timeline
  • Baltimore Becomes Latest City to Sue Fossil Fuel Companies for Climate Damages

Categories

  • Access to Courts
  • Baltimore Lawsuit
  • California Climate Lawsuits
  • Charleston, S.C. Lawsuit
  • Colorado Lawsuit
  • Connecticut Lawsuit
  • Delaware Lawsuit
  • Exxon Climate Investigation
  • Featured
  • Hoboken Lawsuit
  • International
  • Latest News
  • Liability Litigation
  • Liability Waivers
  • Mass. v. Exxon
  • Minnesota Lawsuit
  • New York City Lawsuit
  • Other Suits
  • Politics
  • Rhode Island Lawsuit
  • State Legislation
  • Uncategorized
  • Washington DC Lawsuit

Follow us

  • View climatedocket’s profile on Facebook
  • View climatedocket’s profile on Twitter

RSS

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.