Recent Developments On Climate Change - November, 2009

Recent Developments

Canada

Court rejects appeal of climate change lawsuit

On October 28, 2009, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected the appeal of Friends of the Earth (FOTE), an environmental non-profit organization, which alleged that the federal government had not fulfilled its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act (KPIA). The KPIA requires, among other things, that the federal Minister of the Environment prepare an annual Climate Change Plan that ensures that Canada meets its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. The Federal Court Trial Division had found that the KPIA creates a system of public and parliamentary accountability, which is not open to substantive judicial review. According to the Trial Division, the case raised "inherently political" issues that should be resolved in a political forum rather than in the courts. In its recent decision, the Court of Appeal adopted the reasons of the Federal Court Trial Division. For background