{"id":35113,"date":"2026-02-12T12:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/?p=35113"},"modified":"2026-02-12T12:58:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:58:53","slug":"youth-led-climate-change-case-goes-back-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/en\/youth-led-climate-change-case-goes-back-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth-led climate change case goes back to court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a 6-year legal journey that has seen many twists and turns, the 7 young Ontarians behind the landmark Mathur, et al. v. His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario<\/a> go back to court this spring.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Ecojustice announced<\/a> that the Court of Appeal for Ontario will hear the youths\u2019 motion to revisit their case and rule on whether the Ford government\u2019s climate record violates their Charter rights. Filings of legal arguments by the youth and Ontario will be complete by April 20.\u00a0 The court will issue its decision afterward.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journey began in 2019, when 7 youth, ranging in age from 13 to 25, launched a landmark public interest lawsuit over the\u00a0Ontario government\u2019s decision to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions targets.\u00a0 They have been represented throughout by lawyers from Ecojustice<\/a><\/strong> and Stockwoods LLP<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/strong>The youth argue that, by significantly weakening the 2030 provincial climate targets under the\u202fCap and Trade Cancellation Act, <\/em>the government <\/em>endangers future generations and violates Ontarians \u202fCharter rights <\/em>to life, liberty, and security of the person under Section 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case has made history as the first <\/em>Charter-based climate litigation in Canada to be litigated on its merits. It has overcome repeated attempts by the Ontario government to shut it down. The last court date of December 1, 2025, had to be adjourned when the province repealed the climate law that had been a focus of their case, days before the case was set to be reheard by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The youth suing the provincial government are part of a growing international movement of youth challenging government and corporate inaction in the face of climate change. The movement, which started with Greta Thunberg\u2019s Fridays for Future<\/a> strikes, gives a voice to those whose futures are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and have the least power to affect change. Youth throughout the world are fighting their governments\u2019 irresponsible climate actions through legal means. In the Netherlands, Germany, Colombia, Pakistan, and the United States, among other countries,\u202fyoung people have gone to court to demand that governments take stronger climate action to safeguard their future and those of future generations.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Zoe Keary-Matzner \u2013 one of the Mathur et al litigants \u2013 commented in OJEN\u2019s webinar – Teaching the Mathur et al. Case in High School: An Update (2022)<\/a> – \u201cOur governments are failing us so we have to take them to court.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went on to discuss how she became involved in the Mathur case: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI started going to Fridays for Future when they got going in Toronto… A lot of students and young people were taking to the streets with the idea that we can\u2019t vote so we might as well protest in order to change the systems that we\u2019re seeing causing climate change. And I think that the reason I, and a lot of other young people, started taking mass action was that we realized that fundamentally we will be the last generation to know what a partially stable climate looks like if everything continues as business as usual.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For the many young people who are growing up today concerned about the climate emergency and the state of the world, the courageous actions of Sophia Mathur, Zoe Keary-Matzner, Shaelyn Wabegijig, Shelby Gagnon, Alex Neufeldt, Madison Dyck, and Beze Gray are a source of hope and inspiration.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the litigants, a lot has changed since launching their case in 2019. Some have graduated from high school, begun or completed university, or started careers. They have all remained committed to the case and the cause of climate justice. Read more about them here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eyes of the world will be on them in April as they advance this landmark case to the next stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information check out: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ecojustice website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching the Mathur et al. Case in High School: An Update (2022)\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental Law \u2013 Teaching about Mathur et al. in high schools (2020)<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a 6-year legal journey that has seen many twists and turns, the 7 young Ontarians behind the landmark Mathur, et al. v. His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario go back to court this spring.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Earlier this month, Ecojustice announced that the Court of Appeal for Ontario will hear the youths\u2019 motion to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1232,"featured_media":23846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","inline_featured_image":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-ojen-blog"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/court-railing-hero-image-3.webp","author_info":{"display_name":"Raras","author_link":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/en\/author\/raras\/"},"yoast_head":"\nYouth-led climate change case goes back to court - OJEN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a 6-year legal journey that has seen many twists and turns, the 7 young Ontarians behind the landmark Mathur, et al. v. 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