Mists of the Riachuelo: River Basins and Climate Change in Buenos Aires

The long-standing lack of river basin management policies in Buenos Aires has impacted the development of strategies for facing climate change. This is a highly complex matter in a metropolis that has developed in a context of significant social and environmental inequality. An environmental justice perspective on the institutional changes in the wake of the Supreme Court's rulings in favor of citizens invoking the constitutional right to a healthy environment in the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin illustrates the challenges of environmental management in greater Buenos Aires and the obstacles and opportunities in the development of climate change adaptation policies in the medium term. El deficit historico en materia de politicas de gestion hidrica en Buenos Aires ha condicionado las estrategias de adaptacion al cambio climatico. Se trata de un asunto de alta complejidad en una metropolis que se ha desarrollado en presencia de fuertes desigualdades sociales y ambientales. Un enfoque de justicia ambiental centrado en los cambios institucionales a partir de la intervencion de la Corte Suprema de Justicia en favor de ciudadanos exigiendo su derecho constitucional a la recuperacion ambiental de la cuenca Matanza-Riachuelo identifica los desafios que enfrenta la gestion ambiental metropolitana y las oportunidades y barreras en materia de politicas de adaptacion al cambio climatico en el mediano plazo.