2024: the year it got really hot
The world crossed the threshold into +1.2° about two years ago, and the general assumption was that we would stay in that zone for at least the next five years. But 2023 ended up at around +1.4°, with huge wildfires, massive floods, and storms, killer heat waves—and Jim Hansen says 2024, with the El Niño boost, will be much worse.
Number of air conditioners in the world expected to triple by 2050, six billion units
The sad truth is that the refrigerant gases helping us adapt to climate change are themselves a leading driver of the crisis. Effective rules and enforcement is needed to keep this sleeping giant of a climate threat on ice.
Lesson learned: climate failures and ozones success
We cannot re-negotiate the Paris Agreement, but we can move in the WTO to ensure all climate actions are protected to allow the use of trade sanctions, where appropriate, to insulate against decisions that penalize climate action as in restraint of trade, and to ensure the Paris Agreement will succeed where previous pacts have failed.
Requiring automakers to make electric vehicles will give us the budget models we need
Canadians deserve relief from high car and gas prices. Thankfully, there is a solution.
Taiwan’s vital role in bridging gaps for global climate action
Fuelled by its manufacturing prowess, and pioneering skills in low-carbon technology and enhanced energy efficiency, Taiwan stands ready to make a substantial contribution.
Loss-and-damage agreement could be climate justice game changer—if done right
Canada must use its role on the international stage to ensure equitable and just outcomes for global loss-and-damage funding, such as calling for a grants-based mechanism and not loans that would increase the debt burden of vulnerable countries.
Oil and gas industry’s fancy foot-dragging wins the day, again
While the Conservative leader is busy trying to ‘ruin’ Trudeau’s holiday with procedural hi-jinks aimed at fighting the carbon tax, oil executives and their well-paid lobbyists can take comfort in their well-earned Christmas bonuses.
Environment Policy Briefing
Canada needs to step up to deliver
Sustained leadership, and a spirit of innovation and partnership today, can help forge the models of Crown-Indigenous relations that can carry Indigenous communities, sustainable natural resource management, healthy ecosystems, and vibrant local economies into the future.
Adopting clean technology is a skills issue
Among the solutions like renewables and tax levers, Canada should be all-in on clean technology adoption which offers immediate-term benefits critical to achieving climate wins.
