#GenClimateAction: Mathur et. al. v. His Majesty in Right of Ontario

Mathur isn’t just a climate case — it’s a human rights case, too. 

At a time when the science says we must do more to combat the climate emergency, the Ontario government did the exact opposite. This is unacceptable, and, as the youth in the Mathur case have argued, unconstitutional — putting their fundamental Charter rights to life, security, and equality at risk. 

Their actions have put our rights to life, security and equality at risk. 

Our youth clients are part of what we affectionately call Generation Climate Action (#GenClimateAction) — remarkable young people around the world who have left their classrooms, put their plans on hold, and taken to the courts to speak truth to power about how the climate crisis impacts their future. 

Making legal history in the fight for climate justice 

• In 2018, the Ontario government rolled back the province’s climate targets. Seven brave young Ontarians (the youngest who were just twelve years old at the time) decided to do something about it. 
• In 2019, Alex, Beze, Madi, Shae, Shelby, Sophia, and Zoe launched a landmark case and took the Ontario government to court for further fuelling the worsening climate crisis and putting their generation’s future at risk. 
• We successfully fought off government attempts to have the case thrown out of court, and in 2022 became the first climate Charter challenge to ever be heard on its merits and finding that Ontario’s contributions to the climate crisis are putting its citizens’ lives at risk. 
• We made history again in October 2024, when a groundbreaking decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal concluded that climate change is a Charter issue that governments must answer for in court and confirmed that it is “indisputable” that climate change is threatening the lives and health of Ontarians. 
• In May 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Ontario’s attempt to appeal our win on key legal issues. By refusing to take up Ontario’s appeal, this landmark decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal that climate targets must comply with the Charter is now the law of the land.  
• Now, with the wind in our sails, we’re heading back to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice as quickly as we can, to seek an order forcing the government to set science-based climate targets. Before too long, we will know more details about our return court date (stay tuned!).   

This case already has made one thing clear: climate change threatens our fundamental human rights 

Courts around the world are at a crossroads: will they step in to hold governments accountable for wrecking the climate? Or will they leave it to future generations to clean up the mess? 

Now that the Ontario Court of Appeal has made it abundantly clear that the climate crisis risks our most fundamental rights, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has the opportunity to step in and protect our future. 

How the court sets governments’ constitutional obligations to confront the climate crisis could have far-reaching impacts on our lives and our laws for decades to come. 

Our governments have continued to fuel the climate crisis. It’s time for the courts to step in.  

When governments violate our Charter protected rights on a massive scale, it’s not only the role of the courts to hold them accountable — it’s their duty. 

That’s why concerned citizens around the world are turning to the courtrooms in their fights for climate justice, and it’s working!  

Part of a global movement of citizen-led climate action  

Judges around the world are increasingly siding with citizens and forcing governments to tackle the climate crisis. We’ve seen it in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Colombia, South Korea and in a growing number of countries. By bringing science into the courtroom and representing clients with ringing claims to justice, we are seeking legal precedents that can guide Canada to a climate-safe future, too. 

As the Mathur case heads towards a showdown in court, we stand at the precipice of a historic, youth-driven win for climate rights under our constitution.  

We believe that win is coming, and when it does it will be a gamechanger for climate action in Canada.