Osgoode students are formally invited to participate in a national law school research-a-thon, Beyond the Climate Emergency: Exploring Municipal Solutions to a Global Problem hosted by Osgoode’s Environmental Justice Clinic and Windsor Law’s Cities and Climate Action Forum. The event will take place on Monday, November 18, 2019, the Student Law Clinics Global Day of […]
News
Upcoming seminar on the new environmental assessment regime
Generating Change with Your Dollar: Can B-Corporations be the Start to a More Sustainable Future?
By: Alex Dumais On October 8, 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its report on climate change. Among other things, the report warned the world was approaching a devastating and irreversible environmental “tipping point” in the battle against climate change. But while governments drag their feet, action is coming from an […]
Osgoode’s EJ&S Clinic files a law reform submission on Ontario’s proposed repeal of the Far North Act
Co-Director, Dayna Scott, comments on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's (MNRF) proposal in support of the province’s review of the Far North Act. Read the full submission here: ERO Registry Submission
COP24: What does the new Paris Agreement rulebook mean for Canada’s climate pledges?
By: Isabel Dávila When the Paris Agreement was adopted during the COP21 in December 2015, news releases were filled with references to the landmark agreement. Statements from ENGOs,[6] celebrated what was seen as the most significant step forward in the international fight against climate change. On December 2018, the 24th Conference of the Parties to […]
How Can the Province of Nova Scotia Protect its Coast?
By: Piotr Rak Many jurisdictions are trying to enact new laws to protect their coastlines from various pressures, such as offshore oil drilling and climate change. Recent examples include the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act and the Atlantic Coastal Economies Protection Act in the United States. Both of these statutes are limited to […]
Research-a-Thon: Understanding Bill C-69
Calling all students who have taken Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law or the Environmental Justice & Sustainability Clinic: You are invited to direct your collective brain power toward collecting data and researching legal outcomes that could help to debunk some of the arguments currently being used to prevent new federal impact assessment legislation from being […]
Holding the Carbon Majors Accountable: Philippines Human Rights Commission investigates big polluters for their role in causing climate change
By Graham Reeder On 22 September 2015, Greenpeace Southeast Asia (Philippines), thirteen other non-profit organizations, disaster survivors, and notable individuals, with the support of tens of thousands of Filipinos, filed a petition before the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR) against the world’s largest investor-owned carbon and cement producers, known as the ‘Carbon […]
Discussion with ECO Commissioner, Dr. Dianne Saxe
Dianne Saxe is the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), a tough but fair watchdog over Ontario’s environmental, energy and climate performance, and guardian of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR). Prior to her appointment in 2015, Dianne was one of Canada’s most respected environmental lawyers. She has 40 years’ unparalleled experience writing, interpreting, and litigating Ontario’s […]
Mikisew Cree First Nation v Canada: a missed opportunity on the path toward reconciliation
By Yvonne Mazurak The Crown has a legal obligation to consult with Indigenous peoples when its actions may negatively affect their constitutionally-protected rights. This duty to consult and accommodate was established by Haida Nation v British Columbia and is based on the principle of the honour of the Crown, which requires the Crown to act […]