decision

Hahn et al. v. APR Energy S.R.L (Juvevir Asociación Civil v. APR Energy and Araucaria Energy) - decision

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Hahn et al. v. APR Energy S.R.L (Juvevir Asociación Civil v. APR Energy and Araucaria Energy) - order

complaint

Hahn et al. v. APR Energy S.R.L (Juvevir Asociación Civil v. APR Energy and Araucaria Energy) - complaint

Filing Year For Action

In November 2017, a coalition of individuals and nonprofits brought a preventive action against two thermoelectric power stations Matheu II (APR Energy) and Matheu III (Araucaria), located in the Argentinian city of Pilar. The petition seeks to block the plants on different environmental grounds, including that their construction began without a required environmental assessment, and that the plants are inconsistent with international climate agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement because they will use fossil fuels. The complaint also relies on Argentina's civil code, Constitution and General Law of the Environment, as well as a number of international human rights treaties.
On November 30 and December 21, 2017, the Federal Court of Campana granted precautionary measures halting the construction and operation of the plants. The Court based its decisions on the General Act of the Environment (Act 25.675), the protection of collective interests (Art. 14 of the Civil and Commercial Code) and the prevention of damages (Art. 1.711 of the Civil and Commercial Code). Climate impacts were not expressly addressed by the Court. These decisions were upheld by the Federal Court of Appeals of San Martin. 
After a requirement by Araucaria, on December 22, 2022, the Federal Court of Campana partially modified the precautionary measure allowing the provisional (six months) and partial (two turbines) operation of the power plant Matheu III, under the monitoring of the Municipality of Pilar. The global energy crisis and the rising of energy prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine were some of the grounds alleged. 
On June 29, 2023, the Court decided not to renew the partial allowance of operation of the plant Matheu III after receiving a negative report from the Municipality of Pilar due to noise pollution. It is worth mentioning that, according to this order, the company APR Energy has presented a Plan for the abandonment of the plant Matheu II.
On February 05, 2024, the Federal Court of Appeal of San Martín uphold the decision of the Federal Court regarding the operation of the plant Matheu III. Furthermore, it asked APR Energy to submit to the Ministry of the Environment a closing audit and to the water authority a notification of the activity’s cease.

Hahn et al. v. APR Energy S.R.L (Juvevir Asociación Civil v. APR Energy and Araucaria Energy)

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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

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.

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

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

Production of electricity and heat from solar irradiation.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

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.

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

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.

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.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

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.

Hahn et al. v. APR Energy S.R.L (Juvevir Asociación Civil v. APR Energy and Araucaria Energy) - decision

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance