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.
Environment and Climate Change Canada is considering two options to put a steadily-lowering ‘cap’ on oil and gas sector emissions: a national oil industry cap and trade program, or additional regulations under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act that could result in an industry-specific carbon pricing rate.
On Wednesday, Canada launched its Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System to regulate the sale of carbon offsets under the national carbon pricing law. The program will allow registered parties to generate and sell verified carbon offset credits issued by Canada’s federal environmental agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada.
With the writ dropped for Ontario’s 2022 election on June 2, voters must decide what the next four years of provincial environmental policy will look like. To assist, we’ve outlined some of the key features and differences between the four major parties’ climate and environment plans, and provided a short analysis to illustrate what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s missing in each party’s proposal.
The recent 271 page report describes, sector by sector, how Canada’s emissions are being generated, and what policies the federal government - budgeting $9.1 billion in new climate-related spending - is planning or implementing to decarbonize Canada’s economy, with a near term goal of 40-45% emissions reduction (as compared to 2005 levels) by 2030.
