The Canadian state will finally be judged for climate inaction, the country’s courts have decided, after a complaint filed four years ago by a group of fifteen young environmental activists. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that a trial should take place to determine whether the actions of Justin Trudeau’s government violated the rights of the young plaintiffs, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, according to a judgment made public Thursday.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, the burden of consequences will disproportionately affect young Canadians”, writes the Federal Court of Appeal in its decision, consulted by Agence France-Presse. The court adds that “Climate change has dramatic and rapid consequences for all Canadians, particularly for Indigenous communities and those in the North”.
In October 2019, fifteen young people, aged ten to nineteen, filed a complaint against the federal government of Canada which, according to them, contributes to global warming by not implementing an ambitious plan to reduce gas emissions. greenhouse effect. In October 2020, a Federal Court judge initially rejected their request, a decision overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
Canada, a country that is warming faster than the rest of the planet
“It’s the least we can do to have the right to a trial to discuss what is an existential threat”, reacted to AFP Albert Lalonde, one of the complainants and environmental activist, now aged twenty-one. The law student believes “despairing at having had to wait four years” to get to this stage in the procedures. “This action goes beyond the federal government. This should make it clear to all provinces that inaction can have legal consequences”reacted in a press release from the David Suzuki Foundation, one of the environmental organizations that supports young people.
Elsewhere in the world, numerous trials have taken place to force governments to act against the climate crisis, notably in Germany, the Netherlands and France. Canada, which due to its geographical location is warming faster than the rest of the planet, has been confronted in recent years with extreme weather events whose intensity and frequency are increased by global warming. The country notably experienced a record-breaking forest fire season this year: 18.5 million hectares went up in smoke.