经过七年的等待和在司法系统中曲折的历程，一起针对联邦政府的气候诉讼本周终于在温哥华迎来了庭审听证。
After a seven-year wait and a circuitous path through the justice system, a climate lawsuit against the federal government is finally getting its trial hearings this week in Vancouver.
这起诉讼由15名青年申请人于2019年首次提起，他们主张，由于政府在应对气候变化方面的行动不力，侵犯了他们依据《权利与自由宪章》享有的生命权、自由权和人身安全权。该案最初被联邦法院驳回，后经联邦上诉法院发回重审。
The lawsuit, launched by 15 youth applicants who claim their Charter rights to life, liberty and security of the person have been violated because of the government’s inadequate action on fighting climate change, was first filed in 2019. It was initially dismissed by the Federal Court, then sent back for a full hearing by the Federal Court of Appeal.
渥太华辩称青年主导的气候变化诉讼过于宽泛，不宜在法庭审理 青年活动家称加拿大有法律义务保护重要资源，公开听证会结束 这是加拿大多起基于气候政策的法律挑战中最受瞩目的一起，也是进展最远的一起。这将是此类诉讼首次在法庭获得完整审理，有可能作出具有先例意义的判决，从而影响加拿大法律，并激励世界各地的其他气候诉讼。申请人想要什么？
Ottawa argues youth-led climate change lawsuit too broad to be tried in court Youth activists say Canada has legal duty to protect vital resources as public hearing ends It is the most prominent of several legal challenges based on climate policy across Canada, and has gotten further than any others. This is the first time such a lawsuit will receive a full hearing in court, with the potential for a precedent-setting judgment that could influence Canadian law and inspire other climate lawsuits around the world. What do the applicants want?
申请人希望法院宣告：在气候行动上做得不够，事实上构成了对加拿大人权利的侵犯。
The applicants want the court to declare that not doing enough on climate action is, in fact, a violation of Canadians’ rights.
他们的核心论点是，联邦政府的里程碑式气候法律《净零排放问责法》，将国家置于一条与安全宜居的未来不相符的排放轨迹上。
Their key argument is that the federal government’s landmark climate law, the Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, puts the country on an emissions trajectory that is inconsistent with a safe and livable future.
实质上，该诉讼主张，尽管政府设定了减排目标并实施了当前的脱碳政策，但仍未与科学家认为避免气候变化最严重影响所需的行动保持一致。
Essentially, the lawsuit argues that despite the government’s emissions targets and current policies to decarbonize, it still is not aligned with what scientists say is required to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.
“很难理解我们的政府为何不采取应对这场危机所需的适当立场，因为对我来说，这似乎非常紧迫，”案件申请人之一萨迪·维蓬德说。
“It's hard to see how our governments aren't taking the proper stand needed to combat this crisis because it seems so urgent to me,” said Sadie Vipond, one of the applicants in the case.
Vipond 七岁时，记得祖母在半夜把她叫醒，告诉她必须逃离上涨的洪水，那是 2013 年卡尔加里洪水期间的事。她 13 岁时加入了这起气候诉讼，此后又经历了更多与气候相关的灾难——野火烟雾、极端热浪，以及那场卡尔加里洪水的近乎重演。她现在是不列颠哥伦比亚大学环境科学专业的学生。
Vipond was seven years old when she remembers her grandmother waking her up in the middle of the night, telling her they needed to flee from rising waters during the 2013 Calgary floods. She was 13 when she joined the climate lawsuit, and has experienced many more climate-related disasters since then — wildfire smoke, extreme heat waves and a near-repeat of those Calgary floods. She’s now a student at the University of British Columbia studying environmental science.
作为补救措施，Vipond 和其他申请人希望政府制定一份新的气候计划，该计划须以避免气候影响的最新科学证据为依据，并接受进一步的司法审查，以确保其保持强有力。“我希望看到我的国家能为我知道是正确的事情挺身而出，”Vipond 说。审理将如何展开？
As a remedy, Vipond and her fellow applicants want the government to develop a new climate plan that’s backed by the latest scientific evidence on avoiding climate impacts, and open to further judicial review to make sure it remains strong. "I would like to see my country be able to take a stand for what I know is right," said Vipond. How will the trial unfold?
听证会将于周一开始，申请人及其专家证人将在前两周出庭作证。Vipond 和其他申请人将讲述他们经历的气候危害——过去七年里，随着极端高温、野火和洪水波及数百万加拿大人的生活，这些危害不断累积。
The hearings begin on Monday, and the applicants and their expert witnesses will be testifying in the first two weeks. Vipond and other applicants will speak about the climate harms they have experienced — which have piled up in the past seven years as extreme heat, wildfires and flooding have touched the lives and millions of Canadians.
申请人将传唤八位专家证人，包括知名气候科学家以及健康、国际法、清洁能源和原住民权利方面的专家。其中两位证人曾担任政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）的牵头作者，该机构是向联合国提供建议的全球首屈一指的气候科学机构。
The applicants will have eight expert witnesses, including prominent climate scientists and experts in health, international law, clean energy and Indigenous rights. Two of their witnesses have been lead authors for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the premier global climate science agency that advises the UN.
预计第三周将由政府方陈述立场，届时将有四位气候科学、法律和经济学专家出庭作证。
The government is expected to present their side in the third week, with four witnesses who are experts in climate science, law and economics.
政府并不争辩气候科学是真实且正在造成危害的。但据研究全球气候相关诉讼的哥伦比亚大学萨宾气候变化法律中心称，政府预计将主张加拿大的法律并未直接损害青年原告的利益。
The government is not disputing that climate science is real and causing harm. But it is expected to argue that Canada's laws are not directly harming the youth plaintiffs, according to Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, which studies climate-related litigation worldwide.
本案的一个关键法律争议在于，《权利法案》第7条——该条保障生命、自由和人身安全——是否对政府施加了所谓的“积极义务”。换言之：政府是否在宪法层面上被要求主动通过立法或其他行动，保护加拿大人免受气候危害？
A key legal debate in this case is whether Section 7 of the Charter, which guarantees life, liberty and security, imposes what's known as a "positive obligation" on the government. In other words: is the government constitutionally required to proactively protect Canadians from climate harms by enacting laws or other actions?
纽约市萨宾中心加拿大问题专家、人权律师凯瑟琳·萨瓦尔写道，法院对这一问题的裁决“将构成加拿大宪法法的重大发展”。
A court ruling on this question “would constitute a major development in Canadian constitutional law,” wrote human rights lawyer Catherine Savard, Canadian expert for the Sabin Center in New York City.
在政府证人作证后，听证会将休庭，双方将于2月返回法庭进行结案陈词。
After the government witnesses, the hearings will take a break and both sides will return in February to make closing arguments.
判决结果将受到全球密切关注。此案是国际法院去年发表里程碑式咨询意见以来，首宗重大气候诉讼。
The outcome will be closely watched around the world. The Canadian case is the first major climate trial since a landmark opinion from the International Court of Justice last year.
全球法院认定，如果国家不采取措施减少排放，可能违反国际法；遭受气候灾害影响的国家，可以向导致气候变化的国家寻求赔偿。
The global court found that countries could be in violation of international law if they didn’t take steps to reduce emissions, and countries that are suffering the impacts of climate disasters could seek compensation from the countries causing climate change.
代表申请人的律师事务所Arvay Finlay合伙人大卫·吴表示：“我认为法院在保护宪法权利方面扮演着非常重要的角色。”
“I think there is a very important role for the courts here in terms of protecting constitutional rights,” said David Wu, partner at the law firm Arvay Finlay who is representing the applicants.
“我们是允许政府在气候政策或目标上随心所欲，还是我们的宪法对此有所规定？”他问道。
“Are we going to allow governments to do what they want in terms of climate policy or targets or does our Constitution have something to say about it?”