Carney government asks court to strike down climate litigation

Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-08-29 08:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Environment, Climate, Justice, Governance]

The federal government filed a motion in the Federal Court to strike down an environmental lawsuit brought by three youth and two advocacy groups, which demands that Ottawa amend its climate plan under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. The government argues in its legal submissions that the statute uses the permissive word "may" rather than "shall," imposing no legal obligation to update emissions targets or plans, and that federal courts lack the institutional capacity to direct national climate policy. The lawsuit challenges recent Liberal government rollbacks and policy changes that eliminated key measures required to achieve Canada's legally binding 2030 emissions reduction targets.