Bill 21 explained in plain English
Liability for Climate-Related Harms Act, 2018
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 3rd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Liability for Climate-Related Harms Act, 2018, proposes to establish strict civil liability for entities producing fossil fuels with globally detectable greenhouse gas emissions for climate-related harms occurring in Ontario.
This Ontario bill, the Liability for Climate-Related Harms Act, 2018, proposes to make certain corporations, partnerships, trusts, or other entities strictly liable for harms in Ontario that are related to climate change. This liability would apply if the entity is involved in producing fossil fuels and has greenhouse gas emissions that can be detected globally. The bill defines 'climate-related harms' broadly to include economic and physical losses to property and infrastructure, costs related to insurance, health impacts, ocean acidification, rising sea levels, monitoring and research costs, emergency response costs, infrastructure improvements to minimize future harms, and public education costs. It also includes provisions on how to determine causation for climate-related events and allows for scientific and statistical information in court proceedings. The bill states it comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Establishes strict liability for certain entities engaged in fossil fuel production for climate-related harms occurring in Ontario.
- Defines 'climate-related harms' to include a range of economic, physical, health, and environmental damages, as well as associated costs.
- Specifies that liability applies to entities whose greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed at a globally detectable level.
- Outlines how a producer's greenhouse gas emissions level will be determined, including emissions from production and use of fossil fuels.
- Provides rules for evidentiary matters in court, including how to determine causation for climate-related events and what types of information may be considered.
- Empowers the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations regarding the determination of greenhouse gas emissions and their detectability.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Corporations, partnerships, trusts, or other entities engaged in the production of fossil fuels.
- The public in Ontario who may experience climate-related harms.
- Courts in Ontario adjudicating climate-related harm claims.
- Entities producing fossil fuels with globally detectable greenhouse gas emissions are strictly liable for climate-related harms in Ontario.
- Individuals or entities seeking damages for climate-related harms may use specific evidentiary rules in court.
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council has the power to create regulations related to determining greenhouse gas emissions.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The bill defines 'climate-related harms' to include various economic losses and costs, such as costs associated with obtaining and maintaining insurance, costs of monitoring and research, costs of responding to emergencies, costs of infrastructure improvements, and costs of public education campaigns.
- The bill establishes strict liability, which means a party can be held liable for harm even if they were not negligent. The specific penalties or consequences for this liability are not detailed within the provided text of the bill.
- The bill does not specify the exact threshold for a 'globally detectable level' of greenhouse gas emissions; this is to be determined by regulations.
- The bill does not detail the specific amount or method of compensation for climate-related harms.
- The exact commencement date depends on when the bill receives Royal Assent, which is not provided.
- The bill relies on future regulations to define key aspects of producer emissions determination.
This bill enacts the Liability for Climate-Related Harms Act, 2018, establishing new rules for civil liability related to climate change.
Source: Title and Section 1
Allows the Lieutenant Governor in Council to create regulations to define how greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to producers and whether those emissions are globally detectable.
Source: Section 4
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced