Summary:
This case, brought to the Supreme Court of Argentina after severe fires in a wetland ecosystem in the Paraná Delta (Delta del Paraná) in Argentina, was filed by two NGOs and a group of local children (represented by their parents) as a collective environmental ‘amparo’ claim against the local and provincial governments. The applicants invoke their rights to a healthy environment, to life, to health, and to physical integrity under the Argentinean Constitution, as well as invoking the Convention on the Rights of the Child and drawing on the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.
The action concerns alleged protection failures concerning the preservation of the wetlands of the Paraná Delta, and concerns more than three thousand fires ensuring from the indiscriminate burning of grasslands. The claimants urge the Supreme Court to declare the declare the Paraná Delta a subject of rights given that it consitutes an essential ecosystem in its region, including due to the ecosystem services it performs related to the mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The also request the court to order the respondents to prepare and implement measures to regulate and protect the ecosystem given its endangerment in the face of climate change and the need to protect it for future generations. They argue that a guardian should be designated for this ecosystem, and that local communites should be involved in decision-making relevant to its management, considering in this regard the terms of the Escazú Agreement.
Current status of the case:
The case was filed on 3 July 2020. Given the existence of other similar complaints, the Supreme Court decided on 21 December 2021 that it would issue one judgment concerning all relevant complaints.
Suggested citation:
Supreme Court of Argentina, Asociación Civil por la Justicia Ambiental v. Province of Entre Ríos et al., Doc. CSJ 542/2020, decision of 28 December 2021.
Last updated:
18 March 2023