Climate activist from Sudbury welcomes call for new hearing on court challenge

One of the young climate activists behind a landmark case broughtagainst the Ontario governmentfor weakening emissions targets, says a recent decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal is a positive step forward.

Ontario's top court ordered a new hearing on the constitutional challenge of the provincial government's emissions targets.

"Obviously this means more delay and more waiting for the case," said 17-year-old Sophia Mathur, one of the seven young people who launched the case against the province.

"But I'm really happy. It feels like we're a couple steps closer to having Ontario actually take real climate action. It feels historicand I'm really happy to be a part of it."

The Ontario Court of Appeal's ruling said that the lower court judge's analysis on the case missed some key points. The top court argued the case should be reconsidered.

Mathur says she believes the case will set an important precedent.

"Future governments know that they will be held accountable for not taking proper action on the climate crisis. And it feels like my future is secured," she said.

The plaintiffs, who are part of a group called Ecojustice, have argued the provincial government has violated their Charter rights by weakening Ontario's emissions targets.

The Ontario government replaced an emissions target that would have set a ceiling 37 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030, with a new target that was 30 per cent below 2005 levels.

Mathur says she wants the province to follow the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) targets on greenhouse gas emission reductions.

In its most recent report, the IPCC says the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions around mid-century, in order to keep climate change within the 1.5 C limit.