Date: 5 April 2018
Court: Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia
Citation(s): STC4360-2018
Short summary
25 young plaintiffs sued the Colombian government to stop deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. A 4-3 majority on Colombia’s Supreme Court ruled for the plaintiffs – finding that their and future generations’ fundamental rights were threatened by loss of biodiversity and climate change – and ordered the Colombian government to stop deforestation by 2022, which it failed to do.
Summary by: Saw Aung Aung and David Cremins
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Weight of decision
The Supreme Court of Justice is the final arbiter of constitutional questions in Colombia and its ruling is binding on both government and private actors. However, compliance issues following the ruling in Future Generations highlight the limits of the Court’s power..
Key facts
Between 2015 and 2016, deforestation in the Amazonas region of Colombia increased by 44%. This poses a risk not just to the region but to the world, as the Amazon acts as the “lungs of the earth” and is critical to global sustainability; deforestation impacts water supplies, degrades soil health, and increases carbon emissions.
This rapid increase in deforestation was in part caused by the end of hostilities between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which created a power vacuum in rural areas of the country. Small farmers, large ranchers, and corporations alike began clearing rainforest rapidly to make room for agriculture, ranching, and mining, and the state was largely powerless to stop this trend.
Colombia, as a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement and other international mechanisms, has obligated itself to reach net zero emissions. However, as is true around the world, limited progress has been made towards these goals.
Dejusticia, a social justice non-profit based in Bogotá, grew concerned about the deforestation and the climate crisis. So, they brought together 25 young people, ranging in age from 7 to 25 years old, as plaintiffs in a tutela action – directly asserting a violation of their individual constitutional rights to life, health, water, food, and a healthy environment – in Colombia’s Constitutional Court system in January 2018.
Previous instances
The first court to hear this case dismissed the complaint on standing grounds, holding that the plaintiffs’ claim was collective, rather than individual, and therefore not properly pled as a tutela action; the plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court of Colombia.
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