In a landmark ruling for climate justice in Latin America, on June 16, Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court ordered the government to include a climate impact analysis in the assessment of any project, construction, or activity that could affect the environment.
The decision builds on similar achievements in other countries on the continent, resulting from strategic climate litigation.
This article was originally published on Verfassungsblog.
By Florencia Ortúzar Greene and Karla Maass*
The world has been negotiating on climate change for 30 years. For 30 years, governments have been meeting annually, accompanied by increasingly alarming scientific reports. The multilateral process has matured; it now has implementation rules and mechanisms in place to drive global climate action, but that action remains limited and discretionary.
What's going on? How can we breathe new life into this very important global process?
A river is always a path, sustenance, and memory.
At the Volta Grande (or Great Bend) of the Xingu River, deep in the Brazilian Amazon, the water did more than just flow: it taught people when to plant, when to fish, and when to celebrate.
There, life moved to the rhythm of the river.
The First International Conference on the Transition Beyond Fossil Fuels has concluded in Santa Marta, Colombia. And all signs point to this initiative being here to stay.
Many aspects deserve attention in this process launched by Colombia and the Netherlands. Are we witnessing the first step toward a new era?
While the world is still processing what has happened and awaits the official report from the co-hosting countries in the coming months, we offer an early analysis.
Ten years after its inauguration, the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant (UHE) in Pará returns to the center of public debate, this time under the scrutiny of the Inter-American Human Rights System. More than an anniversary, this milestone reinforces the urgency of an effective institutional response:justice cannot continue to be postponed.
On May 5, 2016, the first turbine of Belo Monte began operating on the Xingu River. Ten years later, the Indigenous, riverine, and artisanal fishing communities along the middle Xingu River—who were never properly consulted—continue to suffer systematic violations of their rights. The balance of this decade is not one of development; it is one of documented harm and denied reparation.
No mining, fossil fuel extraction or power generation project lasts forever. Their useful life is determined by internal factors, such as the quantity of resource reserves, and external factors, such as declining demand or financial problems.
But no matter how long a project lasts or how it is affected, its promoters—whether public or private—must provide for a closure and responsible exit process that considers the natural environment and affected communities, and that is desired and promoted by all stakeholders.
Water and energy go hand in hand.
Processes such as gas extraction, oil refining, and hydroelectric power plant operations all require water. Thus, as energy demand increases, so does the need for water to generate it.
This leads to environmental and social impacts, including the depletion of water sources and the pollution of rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water.
Understanding the connection between water and energy production gives us a broader perspective on what our water consumption entails.
By Víctor Quintanilla and Mayela Sánchez García*
The voices of communities across Latin America and the Caribbean are powerful, especially when they call for environmental protection amid multiple, growing threats.
Often, this demand falls on deaf ears among those who deliver justice at the national or local level.
This trend makes it necessary to turn to complementary avenues of international justice.
