Pedro León: Seeking Climate Justice in Mexico

Last week, ELAW’s Pedro León was invited to speak about protecting the climate through law at a seminar hosted by the Supreme Court of Mexico’s Human Rights Office.

“I shared our recent report describing viable avenues in Mexican courts to protect the climate and described efforts around the world to hold corporations accountable for damaging the climate,” says Pedro.

Pedro has provided legal support to ELAW partners around the world from his office in Mexico City since 2011. Last year, Pedro joined ELAW partners from the U.S., India, Ecuador, Brazil, and Kenya to identify jurisdictions around the world where strong cases could be filed to hold corporations accountable for damaging the climate.

ELAW published the findings in: Holding Corporations Accountable for Damaging the Climate.

“Some people are profiting enormously from damaging the climate, while others will bear the costs of that climate damage,” says Jennifer Gleason, ELAW Staff Attorney.

Pedro brings invaluable expertise to the ELAW Legal Team. Before joining ELAW, he worked in the Human Rights and Environment Program at the Instituto de Derecho Ambiental (IDEA) in Guadalajara and collaborated with the Human Rights and Advisor’s Office of the President of Mexico’s Supreme Court.

Pedro received a law degree from the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Guadalajara and a Master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from Lund University in Sweden.

Read more about last week’s seminar:

La Jornada, June 6, 2015
A call to strengthen the conservation of natural heritage

El Universal, June 5, 2015
Supreme court urges a review of environmental laws

If you would like to learn more about our work and how you can support ELAW, visit our website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Maggie Keenan
Communications Director
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide