You cannot be serious!: Crisis climática, autorización de proyectos carbono-intensivos y su control judicial

Identifier:  TDX:3259

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX3259

Authors:  Medici Colombo, Gastón Alejandro

Abstract:
Humanity is at a defining moment in the face of the climate crisis. The decade of the twenties finds global society on a trajectory that will sooner rather than later exceed even socially acceptable temperature targets, with a little carbon budget available and without having carried out the required energy transition in a timely manner. However, while the window of opportunity is rapidly narrowing, the most relevant actors do not seem to be acting accordingly. Among other areas, this contradiction has been noted in infrastructure planning and development, especially those related to the extraction, distribution and consumption of fossil fuels. With no other route available, the conflict that such a situation is creating is being channelled through judicial challenges to the legality of the planning and authorisation of such infrastructure. This research analyses this type of initiative to unravel its judicial reception at the transnational level. Specifically, it studies a hundred lawsuits in more than twenty jurisdictions in which the viability of certain projects has been questioned due to their impacts on the climate system. From this analysis, it can be seen that there is still considerable room for courts to ensure a more serious and fair consideration of the impacts on the climate system of infrastructure projects when deciding whether to authorise them. This implies that litigation still has an important and legitimate role to play in this context and, more generally, in the future of global climate governance.