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Greenpeace v. Ministry of Energy and Others (on the Energy Sector Program 2020 and Electric Industry Law) - judgment

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Greenpeace v. Ministry of Energy and Others (on the Energy Sector Program 2020 and Electric Industry Law) - decision

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Greenpeace challenged the constitutionality of the amendments to the Electric Industry Act and the National Electricity Sector Development Program 2020-2034 (PRODESEN). In its suit, Greenpeace also asked for a stay of the implementation of both regulations. Plaintiff argued that the regulations displace the use of renewable energy sources in electricity generation in favor of polluting, fossil fuel sources. This transgresses Mexico’s international commitments on climate change. 

The First District Court in Administrative Matters Specialized in Antitrust, Broadcasting and Telecommunications granted a stay of the implementation of both the Act and PRODESEN. The court agreed with the plaintiffs in considering that the regulation could potentially transgress the right to a healthy environment by stalling the energy transition. 

The stay was appealed by the authorities. On September 1, 2022, the First Circuit Court in Administrative Matters Specialized in Antitrust, Broadcasting and Telecommunications overturned the district court’s decision, denying the stay. The court argued that the potential harms that could derive from the challenged regulations were conditioned by the need to modify and amend other regulations. In this sense, the harm was not sufficiently immediate to grant the stay. 

On January 9, 2023, the District Court ruled on the merits in favor of Greenpeace. The District Court decided that the 2021 amendments to the Electric Industry Law, as well as the Energy Sector Program 2020, violate the right to a healthy environment by prioritizing the energy generated through fossil fuels. On February 9, 2023, the Mexican government appealed the District Court decision to uphold the plaintiff’s claims.

On January 24, 2024, the Third District Court in Administrative Matters Specialized in Antitrust, Broadcasting, and Telecommunications decided that Greenpeace did not have legal standing to file the lawsuit, because the Energy Sector Program did not cause the plaintiff a direct, real and current damage. The Court made this decision because it interpreted that the Energy Sector Program is a planning instrument that integrates objectives and strategies with specific actions to be conducted by the Ministry of Energy based on an analysis of the energy sector and sets a series of guidelines, objectives and specific strategies related. These objectives and strategies are indicative, and it is a merely declarative document that does not generate any type of legal obligation, and therefore, it is not an act that affects the plaintiff’s rights. Then, the case was dismissed. 

On February 9, 2024, Greenpeace appealed the Court’s decision. 

On October 2024, the Mexican Constitution was amended to prioritize the electricity generated by CFE, because it is a state-owned company. As a result of this amendment, on June 2, 2025 the Collegiate Court decided to dismiss the case, based on a decision by the Supreme Court, where it was decided that the challenged norm will no longer have any legal effect.

Greenpeace v. Ministry of Energy and Others (on the Energy Sector Program 2020 and Electric Industry Law)

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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.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Households employing domestic workers, for activities like cooking, cleaning and subsistence farming, for their own use.

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

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

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

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.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

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.

Heat extracted from the ground, usually in the form of hot water or steam and typically referred to as hydrothermal fluid.

A financial institution that manages a country's currency and can promote climate-related initiatives through green monetary policy and other means.

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.

Production of electricity and heat from solar irradiation.

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

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

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

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

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

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

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

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.

Greenpeace v. Ministry of Energy and Others (on the Energy Sector Program 2020 and Electric Industry Law) - judgment

Policy instrument

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance