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FARN v. Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development - petition

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FARN v. Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development - judgment

Filing Year For Action

On August 1, 2023, Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) (an ENGO) filed a judicial claim asking for a precautionary order that prevents national authorities, including the Secretary of Climate Change, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development and the Secretary of Energy, from providing consent for offshore seismic exploration and/or offshore fossil fuel exploitation until a proper environmental impact assessment and a strategic environmental assessment have been carried out, as the already conducted environmental impact assessment was described as deficient. According to the claim, these environmental assessments should include an assessment of activities’ cumulative and climate impacts, a consideration of energy alternatives and a cost-benefit analysis in the context of a just energy transition. Furthermore, FARN asked for the immediate halt of any already consented offshore exploration activity until the mentioned assessments had been conducted. This precautionary claim is an accessory to a future civil claim that FARN intends to file next with the aim to prevent environmental damages in the marine ecosystem and challenge the technical reasonableness of developing projects that are contrary to Argentina’s climate commitments. 
Among the deficiencies observed in already conducted environmental assessments, the claim mentions an underestimation of projects’ GEI emissions, including methane emissions due to leakages in the exploration and production stage and emissions due to the combustion of the extracted fossil fuels. Allegedly, this deficiency prevented authorities from properly considering the cumulative impacts of GEI emissions on the climate. 
Different legal grounds are alleged by FARN in the claim, including Article 41 of the Argentinean Constitution (right to a healthy environment), the duty to prevent environmental damage (Art. 2.g., Act 25.675), access to environmental information (Art. 16, Act 25.675), the duty to conduct environmental assessment (Art. 11 and 13, Act 25.675), the environmental principles (precaution, prevention, sustainability, intergenerational equity, non-regression), the Climate Change Act 27.520, the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Escazú Agreement and the American Convention on Human Rights (as interpreted by the Inter-American Court in its Advisory Opinion 23/17). 
According to the claim, several transnational corporations are involved in the development of these activities together with YPF (the national energy corporation), including Equinor, Exxon Mobil, Qatar Petroleum Pluspetrol, Shell, Tullow, and Total Austral. This is not the first case challenging fossil fuel exploration and exploitation activities in the Argentinean Sea. 
On September 14, 2023, the Federal Court rejected the precautionary order on the grounds that the case presents a high degree of technical complexity that cannot be addressed in an interim instance. 
This decision was appealed by FARN on October 1, 2023, indicating that the court did not rule on the central aspect of the claim, which was to verify the cumulative impacts of the different offshore exploration and extraction projects according to the legal grounds alleged. FARN argued that the request did not require the determination of technically complex issues but the enforcement of compliance with the law in terms of environmental impacts.
This appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal on 22 November, 2023, on the same grounds: technically complex issues cannot be addressed in a precautionary claim. On December 5, 2023, FARN appealed this decision before the Supreme Court. 

FARN v. Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for all, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Electrical energy generated from mechanical devices driven by flowing fresh water.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

FARN v. Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development - petition

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance