Just Transition Litigation in Latin America: Striking a Balance Between Economic Development and Environmental and Social Energy Justice

The pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigate climate change drives human society to phase out fossil fuels. Yet, decarbonisation strategies are developed within significant socio-economic challenges, including inequality and racial injustice. Recognising the critical societal implications of both unabated global warming and (unjust) decarbonisation policies and projects, citizens and civil society organisations worldwide have begun to approach courts to demand accelerated GHG emissions reductions and protect vital climate sinks. At the same time, they challenge the justness or fairness of decarbonisation policies due to the adverse effects on carbon-dependent communities or marginalised citizens. ‘Just transition litigation’ often applies human rights to question how the advantages and pitfalls of the energy transition are distributed. In an emerging field still lacking a comprehensive analysis, this chapter contributes to a research gap by providing an overview of how just transition policies and just transition litigation interplay within the regional context of Latin America. The Latin American perspective is unique as countries experience a constant dichotomy between biodiversity conservation, environmental protection, and the promotion and pursuit of socio-economic development through extractive policies and activities.