A new court challenge is putting Ottawa’s climate record back under the microscope, with three young women and two environmental organizations suing the Canadian government to push it to produce an action plan they say is needed to hit the country’s central emissions targets.
The lawsuit arrives as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government recalibrates Canada’s climate and energy agenda, undoing several hallmark environmental policies while pressing ahead with major energy and infrastructure projects aimed at reducing reliance on the United States.
At the lawsuit’s announcement, plaintiff Shirley Barnea, a university student from Quebec, said the government has a duty to secure a livable future for those who will inherit the consequences of today’s decisions.
“Young people deserve a sustainable economy, good green jobs and a government with a credible plan to get us there,” Ms Barnea told a news conference.
The case points to commitments made five years ago under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, when Ottawa set a goal of cutting total carbon emissions 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030. Mr Carney has since acknowledged Canada is unlikely to reach those targets.
According to a statement from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), which is also part of the lawsuit, the legal bid is intended to force the government “to chart a credible, up-to-date course of action” and “to protect Canadians from the worsening impacts of climate change.”
Another plaintiff, Sophia Mathur of Ontario, framed the issue in personal terms, describing a childhood shaped by climate-fuelled disasters and a drumbeat of scientific alarms.
“My generation’s first decade on this planet will have been marked by wildfire seasons, floods, heat waves, and constant warnings from scientists that the window for action is closing.”
Equal Justice, which is pursuing the challenge alongside the three plaintiffs, said the Carney government’s recent policy direction has undercut progress rather than building momentum.
“Over the last year, we have watched the Carney government weaken, delay and repeal Canada’s key climate policies,” said Charlie Hatt, Climate Director at Equal Justice, which is bringing the challenge alongside the three plaintiffs.
‘Existential threat’
Since taking office in March 2025, centre-left Mr Carney has moved to unwind several environmental measures, including a carbon tax for individuals and an emissions cap for the oil and gas sector.
Mr Carney has defended that approach as a bid to bolster Canada’s economic resilience amid trade tensions with the United States under US President Donald Trump, arguing the country should fast-track major energy and infrastructure projects his government says serve the national interest.
In court documents, the filing calls climate change an “existential threat” and points to Canada’s rapid temperature rise, saying the country is warming at roughly twice the global rate while the north is heating nearly three times faster.
“The federal government made a promise, a legal commitment, to meet its climate targets,” said Mathur, the plaintiff. “Now it must keep its word.”
The Carney government is also headed toward trial in October in a separate case that alleges the previous Trudeau administration’s response to climate change violated the rights of young Canadians.
Beyond Canada, the lawsuit lands amid a growing wave of climate litigation that has increasingly sought to hold governments to account for their climate policies in countries including Germany, the Netherlands and France.
