Litigio climático en el sector de hidrocarburos: Perspectivas desde América Latina y el Caribe

The report examines climate litigation in the oil and gas sectors of Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting a strong reliance on human rights and constitutional frameworks. While the region leads the Global South in climate cases, it faces significant barriers including institutional weaknesses, violence against environmental defenders, and a gap in scientific evidence. The study contrasts these with Global North trends, such as 'climate washing' and corporate-focused lawsuits, and discusses the potential for transnational litigation to hold Northern companies accountable for Southern impacts.

• Climate litigation in Latin America and the Caribbean is primarily used by civil society, activists, and communities to prevent the expansion of fossil fuel projects and align public policies with climate commitments, often focusing on the right to a healthy environment.
• The region faces severe institutional barriers to effective environmental justice, including restricted access to justice, a lack of climate-specialized judges, structural violence, and 'hyper-presidentialist' government models that undermine judicial independence.
• There is a significant gap between the Global North and South regarding access to scientific evidence for litigation; the report emphasizes the need to recognize ancestral knowledge of indigenous peoples as legitimate evidence.
• Litigation against private oil and gas companies is less frequent in Latin America than in the Global North, though trends such as 'climate washing' and demands for GHG emission mitigation present potential future strategies for the region.
• Transnational litigation is identified as an opportunity to hold Global North companies accountable for impacts in the Global South, citing the case of Peruvian farmer Luciano Lliuya vs. RWE as a precedent where a German court recognized that GHG emitters can be held responsible for climate risks.
• The private sector may employ 'backlash' strategies to obstruct the energy transition, including the use of international arbitration tribunals (ISDS) to challenge regulatory measures.
• Latin American climate litigation often adopts a more holistic approach than the 'carbon tunnel vision' of the Global North, integrating biodiversity, water sources, and indigenous rights alongside carbon neutrality goals.
• Implementation of judicial rulings remains a critical failure in the region; for example, in the 'Niñas v. Gobierno de Ecuador' case, the state continued allowing gas flaring despite a favorable ruling for the plaintiffs.

APA

Gómez, J., Ortúzar, F., García, G., Strambo, C., & Arond, E. (2025). Litigio climático en el sector de hidrocarburos: Perspectivas desde América Latina y el Caribe. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250924a-litigio-climatico-latinoamerica-2504fv.pdf

Chicago

Gómez, Juanita, Florencia Ortúzar, Gisselle García, Claudia Strambo, and Elisa Arond. Litigio climático en el sector de hidrocarburos: Perspectivas desde América Latina y el Caribe. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2025. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250924a-litigio-climatico-latinoamerica-2504fv.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{gmez2025litigio, author = {Gómez, Juanita and Ortúzar, Florencia and García, Gisselle and Strambo, Claudia and Arond, Elisa}, title = {{Litigio climático en el sector de hidrocarburos: Perspectivas desde América Latina y el Caribe}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/250924a-litigio-climatico-latinoamerica-2504fv.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }