Future Generations v. Ministry of the Environment

A group of 25 young Colombians and the Dejusticia organization sued the Colombian government, Colombian municipalities, and a number of corporations arguing that the failure to reduce deforestation as agreed under the Paris Agreement and National Development Plan threatens plaintiffs' fundamental rights to a healthy environment, life, health, food, and water.

Relevant Laws and Principles

 * Paris Agreement
 * Law 1753 of 2015
 * Right to a Healthy Environment

Ruling
The Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia ordered the government, in the four months following the notification, to formulate a short, medium and long-term action plan that counteracts the rate of deforestation in the Amazon, where it will face the effects of climate change. The high court not only agreed with the plaintiffs ’arguments, but also stressed that the government has been ineffective on this front. 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.” In the lawsuit, the children and youth emphasize that future generations will be the ones to suffer the worst climate change effects. Therefore, they not only demand that the government stops deforestation, but that it also guarantees public participation in the creation of an intergenerational plan to achieve this goal.

Takeaways
The Supreme Court recognized that the "fundamental rights of life, health, the minimum subsistence, freedom, and human dignity are substantially linked and determined by the environment and the ecosystem. It went further, arguing that the Colombian Amazon was a "subject of rights" and entitled to protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration.

Links

 * Sabin Center database
 * Grantham Research Institute
 * Also look at the court ruling (available in Spanish)