On March 9, 2021, Greenpeace filed an amparo, an emergency proceeding, against the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change, the Inter-secretarial Commission on Climate Change, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, the Council of Climate Change, and the Mexican President, challenging Mexico’s revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). The NGO argued that the NDC failed to respect the principle of non-regression in human rights law. In its original 2015 NDC, Mexico committed to a 22% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 as compared to 2000 levels. In the revised NDC presented in December 2020, Mexico raised the baseline against which the GHG emission reduction is measured. Greenpeace argued that the updated NDC would effectively cause the additional emission of 14 million tons of CO2e; (ii) eliminate the peak of GHG emissions stipulated for 2026; (iii) rule out the 50% reduction target for 2050, which would nullify the mitigation horizon in the medium and long term. Greenpeace asked the court to suspend the effects of the 2020 NDC. 

On July 14, 2021, the Judge ruled against Greenpeace. On July 30, 2021, Greenpeace appealed the decision. The District Court court failed to notify the Eleventh Collegiate Court of the First Circuit in Administrative Matters, which was deciding the matter of the injunction to suspend the effects of the contested acts. 

On September 21, 2021, the Eleventh Collegiate Court of the First Circuit in Administrative Matters (not knowing of the previous decision) decided to suspend Mexico’s 2020 NDC. The court considered Mexico’s mitigation commitments to be regressive, in violation of the law. In its place, Mexico’s 2015 commitments on mitigation and adaptation for the 2020-2030 period would apply, and the injunction would remain in effect until a superior court ruled on the Judge's decision. 

On December 15, 2022, the Eleventh Collegiate Court of the First Circuit in Administrative Matters heard the plaintiff’s appeal. The Collegiate Court ruled against Greenpeace, deciding that the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the NDC is regressive, nor did it prove that Mexico could emit up to 14 million tons of CO2e more in comparison to the 2015 targets. Therefore, the case was dismissed.

Greenpeace v. Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático and Others

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Greenpeace v. Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático and Others - decision

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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.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

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

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

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

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

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

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

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

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

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.

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.

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.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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

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.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

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

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

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

Activities involving the management, development, and sale of property assets.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

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.

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.

Greenpeace v. Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático and Others - decision

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance