Environment Jeunesse v. Canada

The legal commentary details the attempts by the NGO Environment Jeunesse to launch a class action on behalf of Quebecers aged 35 and under, alleging that the Canadian Government's failure to set adequate greenhouse gas emission targets violated fundamental human rights. Both the Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed the application. The Superior Court found the age limit of 35 to be "arbitrary" and "not objective". The Court of Appeal further ruled that the action was an attempt to compel legislative action, which would violate the doctrine of Separation of Powers, and noted that global warming affects the entire Canadian population, making the specific class composition difficult to justify. The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

• The Quebec Superior Court dismissed the application for a class action because the age limit of 35 years and below for the proposed class was deemed "arbitrary" and "not objective", with the judge noting that no "objective and rational explanation" was provided for choosing that specific age over others.
• The Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on the grounds that the lawsuit sought to force the government to act, which would interfere with the legislative lawmaking process and the doctrine of Separation of Powers.
• The Court of Appeal rejected the theory of age discrimination in the case, stating that global warming is a reality that impacts all Canadians, making it difficult to establish a breach of equality specifically for the proposed class.
• The Respondent argued that the Canadian Government has no positive obligation to legislate to protect human rights under Sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter, but is only required to respect those rights when exercising legislative powers.

APA

Contributor, C. (2022). Environment Jeunesse v. Canada. ClimaTalk. https://climatalk.org/2022/05/28/environment-jeunesse-v-canada/

Chicago

Contributor, ClimaTalk. Environment Jeunesse v. Canada. ClimaTalk, 2022. https://climatalk.org/2022/05/28/environment-jeunesse-v-canada/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Contributor |first1=ClimaTalk |title=Environment Jeunesse v. Canada |publisher=ClimaTalk |date=28 May 2022 |url=https://climatalk.org/2022/05/28/environment-jeunesse-v-canada/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{contributor2022environment, author = {Contributor, ClimaTalk}, title = {{Environment Jeunesse v. Canada}}, institution = {ClimaTalk}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://climatalk.org/2022/05/28/environment-jeunesse-v-canada/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }