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Ruling on Constitutionality of banning the distribution of non-recycled plastic bags in Oaxaca - decision

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In 2019, the State Legislature of Oaxaca made significant amendments to the state's Solid Waste Prevention and Management Law. One notable change included a prohibition on businesses distributing non-recycled plastic bags. Promptly, on July 31, 2019, a plastic bag manufacturer initiated legal action, asserting that these amendments violated constitutional rights, explicitly impeding their ability to conduct business. 

The Third District Judge in the State of Oaxaca dismissed the case on August 2, 2019, citing the plaintiff's failure to prove its standing as a dedicated plastic bag manufacturer convincingly. The plaintiff appealed this decision on September 7, 2020. Subsequently, the Second Circuit Court on Civil and Administrative Matters of the Thirteenth Circuit overturned the District Judge's ruling, recognizing the plaintiff's standing and forwarding the case to the Supreme Court of Justice. Notably, the Circuit Court highlighted the constitutional dimension of the case, particularly the interpretation of the right to a healthy environment, lacking precedent.

On October 25, 2023, the First Chamber of the Supreme Court issued its ruling. The Court concluded that the ban on non-recycled plastic bags did not violate the fundamental right to conduct business. Employing a proportionality analysis, the Court assessed the policy's alignment with the constitutionally valid objective of environmental protection. It found the policy to be both appropriate and necessary, outweighing any encroachment on the right to conduct business.

The Court considered the broader environmental impact of plastic pollution, linking plastic production to climate change through GHG emissions and its detrimental effects on marine ecosystems. These effects, including disruption to carbon sequestration processes in oceans, underscored the urgency of the state's environmental policy. The Supreme Court's decision upheld the ban, emphasizing the paramount importance of environmental preservation over individual business interests.

Ruling on Constitutionality of banning the distribution of non-recycled plastic bags in Oaxaca

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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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

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

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

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.

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

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

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

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

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.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

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.

Ruling on Constitutionality of banning the distribution of non-recycled plastic bags in Oaxaca - decision

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance