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4 December 2024 – The Center for Human Rights and Environment (CHRE) and the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) filed an amicus curiae (amicus brief) before Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, providing scientific evidence and compelling legal arguments to emphasize the need to prioritize the landmark ‘Mecheros case’ on fossil gas flaring.
In 2020, nine girls from the Ecuadorian Amazon sued the State in what is known as the Mecheros case, demanding the elimination of 447 flare stacks that burn fossil gas continuously, emitting methane and other co-pollutants. The plaintiffs argued that this practice pollutes the environment and damages the health of the surrounding villages, disproportionately affecting women.
On May 7, 2020, the Court rejected the constitutional action. The plaintiffs appealed and on July 29, 2021, the Provincial Court of Sucumbíos ruled in their favor. In its judgment, the Court ordered the State to eliminate the flare stacks, prioritizing those near population centers within 18 months. For other flare stacks, the Court determined they should be eliminated progressively by December 2030.
In March 2023, the 18-month period stipulated in the decision expired, but to date, the stacks continue to operate near schools and villages, and their numbers continue to increase. Given the situation, the plaintiff girls have been forced to appeal to the Constitutional Court of Ecuador to enforce and define more precisely the obligation of the State to cease its harmful actions, limiting the discretion of the government while complying with the ruling.
CEDHA and IGSD’s amicus brief hopes to remind the Constitutional Court that the practice of flaring and venting fossil gas emits significant amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas with an impact 80 times greater than CO₂ over a 20-year timeframe. In 2023, Ecuador burned more than 1.582 billion cubic meters of gas, a concerning 41% increase compared to 2020.
The amicus brief further highlights that methane emissions both exacerbate the climate crisis and violate human rights by disproportionately affecting nearby communities, especially women and children. Methane and co-emitted pollutants such as black carbon and nitrous oxides have devastating impacts on health and the environment.
Latest research confirms that cutting methane is the only way to slow down warming in the next decade or two and avoid or at least delay irreversible tipping points that otherwise would have catastrophic impacts.
The Mecheros case represents a historic opportunity for Ecuador’s Constitutional Court to guide the State in fulfilling its human rights and climate obligations. “Reducing methane emissions is the fastest and most effective way to mitigate global warming in this decade,” said Romina Picolotti, president of the board of CHRE.
“If we don’t slow warming quickly, the self-amplifying climate feedback loops will take over and push the planet past the first five tipping points,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of IGSD.
CHRE and IGSD also emphasize that eliminating flaring is technically feasible and has already been implemented in other countries, setting a global standard that Ecuador can adopt to protect both its population and the global climate.
The Court’s decision in this case could set a critical precedent in the fight against climate change and the defense of human rights.
The CHRE/IGSD supplementary amicus brief on the Human Rights to Resilience was presented to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights at a Public Hearing in Barbados on the Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights.
The obligations of the State described in the amicus brief are three:
– The obligation to mitigate, to reduce warming in the near term to avoid tipping points and feedback loops, and maintain the resilience of key ecosystems for the climate system
– the obligation to restore and
– the obligation to adapt.
For additional information contact Romina Picolotti at [email protected].
Link to the amicus brief:
https://center-hre.org/wp-content/uploads/Resilience_supp_brief-FINAL-Nov-6th-2024-English.pdf