Osgoode’s Environmental Justice & Sustainability Clinic student Lo Stevenson also attended the Conference of the Parties (COP15) for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal last month. In Lo’s recent blog, they argue that area-based conservation should proceed at the watershed level to protect critical habitats from upstream effects: As negotiations draw to a close […]
News & Posts
COP15: 'Kick Out Environmentalists and Industry': Small Scale Fisheries, Conservation Economies, and Human Rights in the Convention of Biological Diversity
In Emma’s complimentary blog after attending COP15 for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, she discusses the tension between environmental goals and economic goals, alongside the need for conservation economies in the context of the Convention of Biological Diversity: Environmental goals regularly bump up against the realities of economic demand and governmental pushes for […]
COP15: Article 8(j) and Quality vs Quantity in 30x30
Osgoode’s Environmental Justice & Sustainability Clinic student Emma Workman attended the Conference of the Parties (COP15) for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal last month. In Emma’s recent blog, she examines Indigenous Peoples’ role in achieving area-based conservation goals around 30x30: At the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), […]
Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands: How the Gitanyow Are Protecting the Land through their own Laws
By Sheren Kamaei For millennia, the Gitanyow Nation have exercised their legal authority (also known as “Ayookxw”) to protect and manage the land, air, water, and resources of their Lax’yip (also known as territories). These territories span 55,000km² in the Nass River Watershed, Upper Kitwanga River, and Upper Kisiox River. The Constitution of the Gitanyow […]
The Underbelly of the Beast: Financing of Fossil Fuel Industry
By Gwenyth Wren Image Source: The Guardian In recent years there has been increasing intense scrutiny of high emitting industries, such as fossil fuel corporations, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, to effectively get to the root of the problem we need to turn our attention to another set of actors who are […]
An Inconvenience Truth - RJR MacDonald, and the Rubber-Stamping of “Public Interest”
One hopes the “public interest” includes the interests of encampment residents. Instead, the courts define parks as spaces for leisure activities, and judge municipal governments by their bylaw’s intentions, not by their effects. By Nikolas Koschany Disclaimer: The following post contains images which some may find disturbing. Figure 1 – An encampment in Toronto’s Moss […]
Better Cover Your Ash
Conflicts in protecting the Black Ash with Bill 108 By Rebecca Murray Background: On June 6th, 2019, the Conservative-led Ontario government passed the More Homes, More Choice Act, AKA Bill 108. This bill was promoted as a response to the housing affordability crisis facing the province. It made a number of amendments to various different […]
Establishing Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas: The Jurisdictional Spectrum
by Yalda Mousavi Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) are gaining international traction. By recognizing the long-standing relationships of care and responsibility between Indigenous Peoples and their territories, they are redefining how we envision and create protected areas. The We Rise Together Report by the Indigenous Circle of Experts defines IPCAs as “lands and […]
It’s past time to act on environmental racism
A recently proposed federal bill could lead to the development of a national strategy to address environmental racism. But a quicker path to urgently needed reform might already exist. by Matthew Green What is environmental racism? In Canada, it looks like the ongoing failure to remediate the Wabigoon River in Grassy Narrows First Nation, where […]
Trespassing on the Right to Housing: A human rights analysis of the City of Toronto's response to encampments during COVID-19
This report reviews the legal dimensions of Toronto’s approach to encampments during the first three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures the City’s response to encampments against its human rights obligations to encampment residents as specified in international and domestic law, the National Housing Strategy Act, and A National Protocol for Homeless Encampments in […]
