News & Events

"In Their Own Words, Plaintiffs and Their Lawyers Speak About Youth Climate Cases" is a four-part series that ran in January to February 2024. 

Recordings from the series can be found through our past events page.

Children and youth in Canada and the US are suing their governments for contributing to the climate emergency. Mathur v Ontario was the first such case in Canada to be decided on the merits and is currently under appeal at the Ontario Court of Appeal. La Rose v Canada was dismissed at a preliminary stage but was revived by the Federal Court of Appeal in December, 2023. Farther south, in August, 2023 Held v Montana became the world’s first children’s climate case to be won after a full trial with live witnesses and cross-examination, while Juliana  v USA has been making its way through the US courts for years and recently passed the latest hurdle on its way to trial. Youth plaintiffs in these cases, and their lawyers, will share their stories of seeking climate accountability for young people and future generations through the courts.

The "No Fly Zone" Speaker Series brings legal thinkers and actors from around the world to speak virtually about pressing environmental law issues. This series was originally designed as a way to foster national and global knowledge exchange without generating travel-related greenhouse gas emissions—which are amongst academics’ largest contributions to climate change. Just as the series was launched, the COVID-19 pandemic intervened to make a necessity out of virtue. The first “No Fly Zone” event, a keynote talk by Rights of Nature pioneer Mari Margil, was held just two days after the entire University of British Columbia moved online in March, 2020. This series will remain a regular feature of the CLE's programming even after pandemic-related travel and gathering restrictions are eased. 

“No Fly Zone” talks are free to attend, open to the public and often qualify for continuing legal education credit for lawyers. Look for the distinctive “No Fly Zone” logo next to event listings on our Past Events page!