Youth v. Government of Mexico

On September 21, 2023, the Collegiate Court that heard the appeal decided to reverse the Judge’s decision to dismiss the case for a lack of legal standing. The Collegiate Court decided that the plaintiffs did have legal standing to file the lawsuit. The jurisprudential criteria in environmental cases in Mexico to know whether a person has standing or not, is that there must be a link between the plaintiffs who claim to be right holders and the environmental services provided by the ecosystem allegedly violated. In this case, since it is climate change, a direct link with the ecosystem cannot be argued. However, the Collegiate Court determined that the link between the plaintiffs’ right to health and to a healthy environment, and the environmental services provided by the ecosystem allegedly violated, is proven by the fact that they live in Mexico and the legal norms and plans that they claim have not been issued by the responsible authorities in compliance with the General Law on Climate Change, could have an impact on the entire national territory. This means that all the ecosystems of the country will benefit from the provisions, rules, plans and strategies that must be issued, since their purpose will be to counteract the effects and prevent possible damages derived from climate change, which is a phenomenon that impacts the entire planet and not only a specific place. In addition, the case was analyzed considering the principle of citizen participation and the correlative principle of public initiative in environmental matters, as well as the precautionary principle. Therefore, regarding the legal standing, the Court decided that the plaintiffs have standing to file the lawsuit. In relation to the merits of the case, the Collegiate Court sent the case to the Mexican Supreme Court. On August 28, 2024, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case on the merits. Then, the Collegiate Court will have to solve the merits of the case.