Banks and Climate Litigation: Canada Report

This report forms part of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)'s Banks and Climate Litigation Project, which examines emerging legal pathways for climate litigation against banks and, separately, claims concerning other environmental impacts of activities or projects financed by banks, in selected jurisdictions. It builds on BIICL's 'Global Toolbox on Corporate Climate Litigation', applying a similar analytical focus to the banking sector.

In Canada, climate litigation involving banks remains at an early stage. The report identifies potential avenues for Bank Climate Claims principally through securities and consumer protection law, as well as through duties applicable to financial institutions and their directors and officers. These avenues concern, in particular, climate-related representations, disclosure and risk management. At present, however, the report does not identify these causes of action as providing a direct legal pathway for challenging bank financing of carbon-intensive projects.

Against this background, this report:

• provides background on the Canadian legal system and its climate law and regulatory framework (section I);

• summarises key relevant cases and developments in Canadian climate and environmental litigation (section II);
• identifies and analyses potential causes of action for Bank Climate Claims in Canada (section III); and
• examines procedural and evidentiary issues (section IV) and remedies (section V) relevant to those potential causes of action
     

Authors:

Simon Archer practices with Goldblatt Partners LLP in Toronto, Canada. He represents trade unions, retiree associations and boards of trustees across Canada, advising on trust administration and fiduciary issues, pensions and benefits, public interest litigation, insolvencies, corporate accountability and governance. Simon is recognised by his peers as a leading practitioner in pension and employee benefits by Best Lawyers, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, and Chambers Canada. He writes extensively and is co-editor of The Daunting Enterprise of the Law, a volume dedicated to the work of Harry Arthurs, and The Contradictions of Pension Fund Capitalism, a volume on issues relating to pension fund investments.

Jamie Shilton is a litigator at Goldblatt Partners LLP. His practice involves a mix of class actions and civil litigation, with a focus on public interest claims and claims against public authorities.

Umaiyahl Nageswaran legal practice involves an eclectic mix of civil litigation, constitutional law, class actions, and labour law.