Two environmental groups are suing the federal government, contending that the Conservatives failed to comply with legislation meant to force their hand to meet Kyoto Protocol targets.

Ecojustice and Friends of the Earth filed papers in federal court on Wednesday, seeking immediate action from the Conservatives to abide by the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, a Liberal private member's bill that became law in June.

The legislation gave the federal government a 60-day timeline within its passage in the Senate to devise a plan to meet its Kyoto targets. In late August, the Conservatives published a document outlining their own plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels, but not until sometime after 2020 — years beyond the Kyoto deadline to reach the same goal.

Friends of the Earth chief executive officer Beatrice Olivastri said the Conservative plan, which repeated its criticism that meeting Kyoto targets by 2012 was not a realistic goal and would cripple the economy, not only fell short of the Kyoto requirements, but also amounted to an illegal act.

"The government has not got discretion, in our opinion, on whether or not to meet Kyoto. They are required as per the terms of this act, cut, dried to the point," Olivastri said.

Albert Koehl, a lawyer with Ecojustice, said the Conservatives' approach to fight climate change scoffs at the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act.

"We want the court to make a declaration that the government is bound to comply with this law," he said. "This law quite clearly states the government must put in place measures that ensure we make greenhouse gas cuts that comply with the Kyoto Protocol."

Koehl acknowledged the court case could take months, but even if it takes a long time for a judgment in court, he hoped the lawsuit itself would ensure that Kyoto remains a campaign issue if a federal election crops up in the meantime.