On November 12, 2024, the Hague Appeals Court overturned a landmark 2021 decision ordering oil giant Shell to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.
On October 17, 2024, Ontario’s Court of Appeal sided with a group of young climate activists in its Mathur v Ontario decision, reviving a case against the province which was previously dismissed in April 2023.
On October 9, 2024, the Canadian government announced that it will establish a “Made-in-Canada” sustainable investing taxonomy, and institute mandatory climate disclosure requirements for large, federally-incorporated private companies.
The legislation’s goal is to support workers and communities by creating high-quality, socially-responsible (and preferably unionized) jobs, as part of the transition away from fossil fuels.
The European Court of Human Rights delivered its long-awaited first ruling in the climate action case Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland, finding that the European Convention on Human Rights encompasses the right to effective protection from adverse effects of climate change.
Amidst embarrassing revelations of procedural irregularities and ethics violations, both Ontario’s Housing Minister and his Chief of Staff have resigned in quick succession, while the RCMP ponders launching a formal investigation into their conduct. We explain what happened in Ontario’s Greenbelt privation scandal and why.
The lawsuit alleges Ontario’s provincial government, under the leadership of Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford, violated the s. 7 (life, liberty and security of the person) and s. 15 (equal protection) Charter rights of the plaintiffs and future generations when it cancelled Ontario’s cap and trade program and adopted a new, less-ambitious climate plan as compared with the previous government’s.
On September 21st, 2020, the Canadian federal government accepted Ontario’s Emission Performance Standard (EPS) program as an alternative to the federal output-based pricing system (OBPS) that’s been in effect in the province since January 1st, 2019. Both programs are cap and trade-type emission pricing regimes designed to incentivize industrial polluters (e.g., pulp and paper facilities, base metal smelting facilities, etc.) to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
As the court wrote in its decision, “[a] government or political party can, in the words of Ontario’s Minister of Energy, “stick it to” another tier of government or political party as a matter of free speech in an election campaign…But a government cannot legislate a requirement that private retailers post a Sticker designed to accomplish that task. The mandatory fuel pump Sticker is an unconstitutional attempt to do just that.”
