It was a historic spring in Canada: alongside a record number of wildfires across the country, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) was finally reformed.

On May 30, the right to a healthy environment was enshrined in federal legislation for the first time. In Canada, decades ago, Quebec was the very first jurisdiction to take this step, recognizing this right first in the Environment Quality Act and then in the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Internationally, hundreds of countries have incorporated different versions of this fundamental right into their constitutions.

Last year, a United Nations resolution recognized the right to a healthy environment as a universal right. These legal acknowledgments are essential as they provide the necessary basis for asserting this right in court. In addition, governments are required to take preventive measures to protect environmental health.

While this is an important step, remember that the work has only just begun. The challenge is daunting, and the example of Quebec makes it clear: simply recognizing this right is not enough, and effectively translating this right into stronger and more resolute environmental action is imperative. As environmental inequalities in indigenous and socio-economically marginalized communities increase, it is clear that the right to a healthy environment is far from being a reality for all.

The amendments to CEPA oblige the government to protect everyone’s right to a healthy environment while upholding the principle of environmental justice. These reforms represent the first indication of environmental justice in Canadian law at a time when the country’s history is marked by grave environmental injustices that continue to this day.

The collection book The nature of injustice (Écosociété), published May 23, details many of these injustices. In Canada, African communities in Nova Scotia have long protested the harmful and toxic effects they face associated with hazardous sites such as landfills. For their part, Inuit communities still face food insecurity and chemical food contamination, and are also disproportionately affected by global warming caused by the production and consumption patterns of people in the south of the country. In Quebec, mining laws fail to respect generally recognized indigenous rights through mining claims, while communities in Rouyn-Noranda face persistent health inequalities as a result of Horne Smelter’s activities.

Furthermore, given that climate change will increase both the number and intensity of wildfires, it seems appropriate to invoke this new right to a healthy environment to force our governments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. and better protect communities most at risk of suffering the consequences, including First Nations.

In these circumstances, it is imperative to continue to bring together and shine a light on the ever-growing array of environmental injustices in order to uncover the disproportionate risks that rest on the shoulders of racialized and marginalized indigenous peoples and communities. Both socio-economically and economically Here and elsewhere in the world.

To make the right to a healthy environment a reality, our governments must now take ambitious steps to improve the realization of that right so that no one is left behind. To achieve this, it is imperative that we fight the invisibility of environmental injustices, particularly by requiring governments to monitor and uncover the environmental and health realities of historically marginalized populations.

This work is fundamental to enabling the right to a healthy environment to go beyond the law and truly support those who need it most.

To see in the video