Environmental Law Annual Review

2018 Environmental Law Annual Review (PDF, 16.3 MB)

2017 was full of compelling developments in the area of environmental law. There were several notable developments in the case law on areas such as contaminated sites, aboriginal and treaty rights in relation to industrial development, injunctions, and other subjects. Further legal challenges to the Site C Clean Energy Project were dismissed. The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed a claim against a mining company to proceed in respect of wrongs that allegedly occurred in a foreign developing country, including alleged breaches of customary international law. The B.C. Supreme Court has clarified the scope of coverage for all risk insurance policies in relation to contaminated sites liability. And there were several notable cases relating to prosecutions of environmental offenses, among other interesting developments.