Ontario’s repeal of emissions target looms over landmark climate case

TORONTO – Young climate activists behind a landmark challenge of Ontario’s climate plan say the province’s 11th hour attempt to escape accountability by repealing its own emissions targets has only emboldened their fight.

They were set to argue next week that the government’s weakened 2018 emissions targets were without scientific basis, and so out of step with the cuts required to limit severe climate impacts that they endangered the young people’s constitutional rights.

Instead, the Monday hearing has been cancelled, and lawyers for the government and the young climate activists are now set to discuss how the province’s recent move will reshape the case. 

Premier Doug Ford’s government voted this week to scrap its emissions target and a legal requirement to update its climate plan. 

In a statement, Ford’s office says the government is taking a “hard look at the unnecessary processes that have held us back” given recent economic uncertainty and U.S. tariffs.

Shaelyn Wabegijig, one of the seven young people behind the case, says Ontario deserves a government that faces the climate crisis, not runs from it. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2025.