From student activists to senior legal strategists, the climate litigation movement is gaining unprecedented momentum. In this episode, Catherine McKenna speaks with two remarkable women using the law as a powerful tool for climate accountability.
Sophia Mathur, an 18-year-old climate activist from Sudbury, shares her journey from drawing pictures for politicians at age eight to becoming the lead plaintiff in a landmark youth climate lawsuit against the Ontario government. Now starting university, Sophia reflects on how a childhood pinky promise with Catherine sparked years of activism—from launching Canada's first Fridays for Future climate strikes to partnering with Ecojustice to hold the Ford government legally accountable for backtracking on climate commitments.
Laura Clarke, CEO of ClientEarth, on how strategic litigation can accelerate climate action. She discusses ClientEarth's work tackling greenwashing in aviation and fossil fuels, enforcing the polluter pays principle, and supporting the historic International Court of Justice advisory opinion initiated by Pacific Island students. Laura explains how attribution science is strengthening climate cases, why targeting the "enablers" of fossil fuel expansion matters, and how legal precedents—even in cases that don't succeed—are shifting corporate behaviour and government accountability worldwide.
These conversations reveal why litigation has become essential to climate action—and how advocates of all ages are using the law to demand the future we need.
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This episode was recorded on Riverside.fm in the Fall 2025.