Office of the Inspector General and Others v. Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and Others

In 2022, the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia and the Office of the Inspector in Environmental Matters filed a joint lawsuit before the Administrative Tribunal of Cundinamarca seeking the declaration of non-compliance by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (the Ministry) and the President of their obligations under Law 1931 of 2018. The 2018 climate action law, as it is also known, establishes guidelines for climate action in Colombia. The statute’s main goals are to put forth climate change adaptation measures, mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduce the population’s and ecosystem’s vulnerabilities and promote a just transition towards decarbonization. Plaintiffs claim that it has been four (4) years since the climate action law was issued and the government (represented by the Ministry and the President) has failed to comply with articles 15, 18, 19, 26 and 29. Claimants argue that the initial term included in article 35 of the same law was of three (3) years since its sanctioning. Article 15 orders the Colombian government to establish a regulatory framework to define and determine actions related to short, mid and long-term national determined contributions in the context of the UNFCCC. Article 18 commands the Ministry to issue guidelines regarding the creation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of climate change comprehensive management plans at the regional level. Article 19 instructs the government to establish guidelines directed towards territorial entities and environmental authorities to incorporate climate change response and management in their environmental, land use and financing planning documents. Article 26 directs the Ministry to issue regulations regarding the National Information Service on Climate Change (created by the 2018 climate action law) and to outline the rules and procedures to articulate this to other existing systems. Article 29 enjoins the Ministry to establish a number of GHG annually negotiable quotas and delineate the transaction’s terms and conditions. The Tribunal found that the obligation under article 18 had been fulfilled by the Colombian government through Resolution No. 0849 of 2022. This resolution establishes guidelines to create and implement climate change comprehensive management plans at the regional level in accordance with the 2018 climate action law. However, the Tribunal declared that defendants had failed to fully comply with the obligations encompassed in articles 15, 19, 26 and 29 of the 2018 climate action law. Despite some initial efforts to set forth climate action-related activities, the Tribunal found that the Colombian government has to date failed: (i) to regulate goals related to national determined contributions; (ii) to issue a legal document to guide territorial entities and authorities in incorporating climate change in their regulatory and planning instruments; (iii) to regulate the National Information Service on Climate Change (draft legislation is in process); and (iv) to establish GHG quotas (draft legislation is in process). As a result, the Tribunal ordered the Ministry and the President to fully comply with 2018 climate action law obligations and established a new term of six (6) months from the time the decision is final and enforceable. The defendants filed an appeal before the Council of State. On April 27 of 2023, the Council of State upheld the Tribunal’s decision regarding the obligations of the Ministry of Environment to comply with Law 1931 of 2018. The Council of State also found that the office of the President lacked legal standing, so orders are directed only towards the Ministry of Environment, who has six (6) months to comply with the judgment.