The organization The Puerto Rico Bridge filed this Tuesday a petition for “mandamus” against the House of Representatives and the governor Jennifer Gonzalezin order to comply with the provisions of the Law 33 of 2019 around the Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience Plan to Climate Change.
Specifically, the lawsuit seeks that the Chamber send the Plan to the governor and that she, in turn, proceed to accept it and sign it or veto it, as established in Article 16 of Law 33.
“There are no more excuses. The governor and the president of the Chamber, Carlos “Johnny” Méndez, know the political cost of continuing to support the destruction of the environment and, therefore, they prefer to keep the approval of the Plan in limbo. But the people do know how important it is to approve this Plan, that what it seeks is to advance, in an organized manner, climate adaptation.”expressed Federico Cintron Moscosodirector of El Puente Puerto Rico, via press release.
According to the organization, on November 18, 2025, the Joint Commission on Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change recommended approval of the Plan and submitted it to both legislative bodies for consideration. That same day, the Senate voted in favor of it, while the House did not attend to it.
Even so, the entity maintained, at the conclusion of the ordinary session that November 18, the Plan was approved in accordance with the law. Subsequently, on November 20, the Senate referred it to The Fortress. However, the next day, the assistant secretary of the Government for Legislative Affairs, Carlos Rivera Justinianoreturned the document to the House claiming that it had only been approved by one of the bodies.
El Puente Puerto Rico indicated that, despite the fact that the president of the Senate, Thomas Rivera Schatzreported that said return was not appropriate, since the organization asked the governor to claim the Plan or act on it, the document remained in the hands of the Chamber. The entity also asked the Chamber to send the Plan to La Fortaleza, without receiving a response.
For the organization, in accordance with the legislative intention, the Plan should have been approved at least four years ago, and stressed that, almost seven years after the approval of Law 33, Puerto Rico still lacks an integrated public policy to address the climate crisis..
“The government’s inaction is extremely irresponsible and contrary to the ministerial duties they have. The House of Representatives does not have the authority to keep the Plan sequestered or to modify it, and the governor has to accept said Plan and decide whether she is going to sign it or not. This is what we are requesting from the Court,” said the lawyer. Ninoshka Picart Pérezlawyer from El Puente Puerto Rico.
The entity stressed the urgency for Puerto Rico to have an integrated plan to address the effects of the climate changegiven that the archipelago is among the territories most affected by the global warming. In that sense, the Plan seeks to coordinate sectors such as infrastructure, health, tourism, agriculture, education and energy to mitigate risks and protect the life, property and economy of the country.
El Puente Puerto Rico warned that the absence of the Plan aggravates the conditions of the most vulnerable communities, exposing them to impacts such as extreme heat and poor air quality, which increase respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, especially in older adults.
In addition, he pointed out that not having a planned strategy also has economic implications, including possible losses in infrastructure, tourism and agriculture, as well as impacts on the operational capacity of air transport.
“The Plan identifies key priorities and allows agencies to focus their efforts and commit their resources to protect the most vulnerable lives and property. “The governor can no longer evade her responsibility, she will have to make a decision in favor of life or her personal interests.”concluded Cintrón Moscoso.