Few success stories came out of this year’s COP. Nevertheless, we’ve compiled COP29’s five (very modest) achievements and five of its most notable failures.

On October 17, 2024, Ontario’s Court of Appeal sided with a group of young climate activists in its Mathur v Ontario decision, reviving a case against the province which was previously dismissed in April 2023.

The legislation’s goal is to support workers and communities by creating high-quality, socially-responsible (and preferably unionized) jobs, as part of the transition away from fossil fuels.

On December 13, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal released a unanimous decision to revive La Rose, a previously-dismissed youth climate action case, and send it to trial.

On December 13, 2023, COP28 concluded in Dubai with an agreement heralded, perhaps too optimistically, as "the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era." Here’s a summary of the conference in 10 points, covering its five greatest achievements and five most notable failures.

The proposed framework outlines a regulatory cap-and-trade program for Canada’s oil and gas industry, with a sectoral limit 35-38% below 2019 levels.

On November 16, a federal court quashed Canada’s ‘plastics ban’ in a lawsuit filed on behalf of several Big Plastic industry members, including Dow Chemical, Nova Chemicals Corporation, and Imperial Oil.

On Monday, November 27, 2023, Alberta’s legislature tabled a resolution to invoke its controversial Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act for the first time. The Act allows Alberta’s legislature to pass resolutions to identify and disregard specific federal legislation or policies as either unconstitutional or causing harm to Albertans.

The Supreme Court of Canada found a large part of the federal Impact Assessment Act unconstitutional in an advisory opinion issued on October 13, 2023.

Amidst embarrassing revelations of procedural irregularities and ethics violations, both Ontario’s Housing Minister and his Chief of Staff have resigned in quick succession, while the RCMP ponders launching a formal investigation into their conduct. We explain what happened in Ontario’s Greenbelt privation scandal and why.