For immediate release

May 1, 2025 (Ottawa) The ground-breaking youth-led Mathur case challenging the Ontario government’s weak climate target is heading back to court. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has declined to hear Ontario’s appeal of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling in October 2024, putting an end to yet another delay in the fight for climate justice. The case returns to the Ontario Superior Court.

“Friends of the Earth Canada intervened in this case because climate change is too important to be at the mercy of the politics of the day. Today’s youth and their children have a right to inherit a liveable climate,” said Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada.

Friends of the Earth hopes the Federal Court will fast track a date for the Mathur case to be heard,” she continued. “It is critical to alert the new federal government to the importance of acting with Canada’s climate targets in mind. Prime Minister Carney, a committed climate advocate, is promising infrastructure and energy projects via speedy environmental assessments.”

Nathalie Chalifour, an expert on climate change and the Constitution and Co-Counsel for Friends of the Earth says, “The courts have already found that Ontario’s target falls severely short of the global standard and recognized that climate change disproportionately harms young people. Now, the case returns to the Ontario Superior Court to squarely answer the question of whether this violates the constitutional rights of the youth applicants.”

Erin Dobbelsteyn, an expert in planetary health and environmental rights and Co-Counsel for Friends of the Earth says: “These young people are charting the path towards judicial recognition of climate rights and responsibilities in Canada. The government must be held accountable for its role in exacerbating the risks climate change poses to the health and well-being of current and future generations.”

Unless Prime Minister Carney can forge a consensus among all political parties and provinces on urgent and ambitious climate action, the courts will continue to have an essential role to play in ensuring a just and sustainable future for our children.

-30-

For more information or interviews:

Nathalie Chalifour – natchali@uottawa.ca

Erin Dobbelsteyn – edobb061@uottawa.ca

Beatrice Olivastri – beatrice@foecanada.org, 613 724-8690

Friends of the Earth Canada is the Canadian member of Friends of the Earth International, the world’s largest grassroots environmental network campaigning on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues.