Land and Natural Resources

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This case resolves an auto action to protect the rights of the displaced Afro-Colombian population in conformance with the court’s prior declaration in the T-025 decision of 2004 of an “unconstitutional state of affairs” around the situation of the forcibly displaced population.

The Court first surveyed the domestic and international jurisprudence and legal frameworks guaranteeing the rights of persons with disabilities. The Court noted various articles under Colombia’s Constitution that protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

In this Auto, the Court was gravely concerned with the threat that internal displacement posed to the existence of Indigenous Peoples in Colombia. The Court attributed this threat to three main factors: (1) rupture of structures and community disintegration; (2) culture shock outside of their ancestral lands; (3) getting caught in the middle of the violence. 

Under Colombian constitutional law, children must receive priority in care and safeguarding of their rights. Despite this, over fifty percent of the internally displaced population in Colombia is made up of children and adolescents below the age of 18. The Court in this case found that the governmental response has been largely inexistent and inefficient in resolving the myriad violations of childrens’ human rights.

We marked International Women´s Day and Women´s History Month with a global call for an all-agreed fair Social Pact on Care. We started advocating for this 3 years ago when Covid-19 exacerbated the global care crisis. Since then our members have continued to multiply our actions to highlight the need to put care at the center of the political agendas globally.

Ashghar Leghari, a farmer and lawyer, sued the Pakistani government for inaction vis-a-vis climate change, claiming that this inaction, “delay, and lack of seriousness” violated the fundamental rights of life provided by the Constitution, since climate change posed a serious threat to water, food, and energy security in Pakistan. Further, Leghari argued the “effects of climate change can be addressed through mitigation and adaptation.” 

On 19 December 2022, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, held in Montreal, ended with the adoption of the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), a landmark agreement on measures considered critical to address the dangerous loss of biodiversity and restore natural ecosystems.

There is no denying that the historical and present responsibility for the climate crisis lies primarily with wealthy, highly industrialized countries and powerful corporate actors. Despite contributing the least to the climate crisis, frontline communities in the Global South are paying the price with the destruction of their territories and the erasure of their cultural heritage.

These two cases are part of a group of six cases involving Nigerian farmers seeking compensation for the environmental and livelihood damage they suffered as a result of oil leakages from Shell’s pipelines in the villages of Oruma, Goi, and Ikot Ada Udo.