Another approach to Canada’s bitumen quagmire
There will be both a significant financial and political cost no matter what decision is taken to resolve the current impasse on the Kinder Morgan pipeline project. Why not investigate an alternative? What if governments helped finance a refinery in Alberta to refine the bitumen to a state that it is less hazardous for transport? […]
New studies show Canadians unaware of flood risk
Imagine this—your home was severely damaged when a torrential downpour caused a nearby river to overflow its banks and water gushed into your basement. Then when you made an insurance claim, you found you did not have coverage and had to bear the financial burden on your own. This situation is a reality for a […]
Trudeau puts it all on the line for a pipeline that’s unlikely to be built
OTTAWA—On the evening of July 25, 2010, an oil pipeline owned by Enbridge Inc. ruptured near Marshall, Mich. During the 17 hours it took for the company to turn off the flow, more than three million litres of crude from Canada’s oilsands made its way into the Kalamazoo River. The discharge of diluted bitumen—heavy tarsands […]
Difference between a green economy and business-as-usual isn’t the economy; it’s the environment
What Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna have been saying for more than two years now is true—Canada can take action on climate change and have a strong economy. The two can go hand in hand. However, the path to a low-carbon economy is paved with strong climate policies, […]
B.C. needs strategy to tackle rising costs of climate change
Climate change is most often thought of as a future threat, but as many of us know, its impacts are being felt more and more every day. The consequences of major spring flooding and summer wildfires on both sides of the Rockies in the past few years are telling: natural disasters are happening more often, […]
Can Canadians develop new technologies essential for a low-carbon economy? It will be a struggle
TORONTO—The tiny first step to nation-wide carbon pricing, at $10 a tonne starting Jan. 1, 2019, is now a step closer with the introduction of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. The federal government will have the power to impose a carbon price on any province that tries to shirk its climate responsibilities. But selling […]
Fate of 3,500 coal-power workers, and more, at stake with new ‘just transition’ task force
It has been a long time coming. The Trudeau government is poised to launch Canada’s first federal task force on a “just transition” for workers affected by policies intended to mitigate climate change. In this case, it’s the government’s plan to virtually eliminate traditional coal-fired electricity generation by 2030, which may put up to 3,500 […]
Research and technology won’t feed starving southern resident orcas
More funding was announced by Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc on March 15 for initiatives to protect southern resident killer whales, the iconic orcas off the southern coast of British Columbia that are slowly starving to death. While funding for technology and research is important, a cash infusion alone won’t feed the 76 orcas […]
How Canada and the IICA are trying to ease climate change’s harm to family farms in the Americas
My recent visit to Ottawa resulted in the strengthening of cooperation efforts to benefit vulnerable areas in the Americas. The agency I lead, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), together with several prestigious and active organizations based in Canada, such as the International Development Research Centre and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, […]
Canadian Securities Administrators prepare report on climate disclosure as advocates push for new reporting requirements for businesses
The national body of securities regulators is releasing a much-anticipated report next month on companies disclosing the financial risk they face from climate change, as calls grow from industry and advocates for more fulsome accounting on how firms are preparing to weather the material impacts from changing global climes and efforts from governments to reduce […]
