Environmental Law Alert Blog

Through our Environmental Law Alert blog, West Coast keeps you up to date on the latest developments and issues in environmental law. This includes:

  • proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection;
  • stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and
  • emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect our environment.

If you have an environmental story that we should hear about, please e-mail Andrew Gage. We welcome your comments on any of the posts to this blog – but please keep in mind our policies on comments.

2020 Canadian Law Blog Awards Winner

Vancouver’s ‘Sue Big Oil’ decision last month generated some loud controversy.

Standing under the towering presence of a 600+ year old being, a hushed awe permeates the group. As we silently recognize the magnificence of this life form, I suspect I am not the only one who longs to hear the stories this tree carries.

“We are going to sue Big Oil,” noted journalist Avi Lewis told us. “This is an historic moment, and you are going to be able to tell everyone you were here when it began.”

nʔaysnúlaʔxw iʔ k̓̓łluxwnwixwmntət (Ashnola Declaration)

On April 28, 2022, the sməlqmíx, the syilx people of the Similkameen Valley, declared the nʔaysnúlaʔxw snxaʔcnitkw (Ashnola Watershed) in its entirety and for all future generations an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).

Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRT) has produced a short video sharing some of the work it has been doing over the past five years through its RELAW project.

This joint op-ed was originally published in the Globe & Mail on April 14, 2022.

West Coast is pleased to announce the launch of our latest report, “Net Zero or Net Reckless? What is the appropriate role for negative emissions technologies in meeting Canada's climate targets?”

For decades, Canadians across different sectors of the economy have been working to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. From agriculture to construction, to our household carbon footprints, people in Canada are ready to do their part for the climate – and now it is Big Oil’s turn.

On Friday, February 18, 2022, just before a long weekend, and while the country was focused on the Trucker Convoy’s occupation of Ottawa, Trans Mountain Corporation released a long overdue cost estimate for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX).

This blog is the second in a two-part series: Part 1 reviews the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report from a marine perspective; and Part 2 outlines solutions to the climate impacts the ocean is facing.