Bold climate action needs a basic income
Imagine three groups of people are lost at sea. One group is stuck on a big yacht. Another is spread across a flotilla of rowboats, all of them vulnerable to the next big wave. The third group is out in the open, treading water. This visual illustrates how our income shapes our ability to navigate […]
Canada needs a roadmap to show how to get to net zero by 2050
Imagine trying to find an exciting new restaurant in town when there is literally no information about its location: no roadmap, not found on Google maps, and everyone you ask gives you vague and conflicting—sometimes outright wrong—information about how to get there. That’s Canada’s current situation, except the prize at the end of the journey […]
Emergency management must be central to climate change response in the North
Robust emergency management capabilities must be a central component of climate change response plans in the North. From wildfires to flooding to the expansion of cruise tourism, the affects and results of climate change continue to exacerbate the risks posed by a broad spectrum of natural and human-made hazards throughout the region. The risks are […]
Inuit are battling an existential threat
Inuit face an existential threat and are experiencing a violation of our fundamental human right to a safe and healthy environment. That threat, of course, is climate change. Inuit Nunaat—our homeland—is changing beyond recognition. We are a marine people and rely on healthy ocean ecosystems for our very survival. Declining sea ice is the single […]
MP Fast calls for more help for Abbotsford: ‘many of these families have lost everything’
When asked to describe the situation in the flood-stricken riding of Abbotsford, Conservative MP Ed Fast used one word: “grave.” With three rounds of record-breaking November rainfall resulting in devastating flooding in his riding, Fast said the events of the last few weeks have been a “rollercoaster of emotions” for his constituents, as “each time […]
View climate change as national security issue, says Green, NDP MPs
Calls from opposition parties for the Liberal government to treat climate change as a national security threat are increasing in the aftermath of a recent flooding crisis in British Columbia where hundreds of troops were deployed to provide emergency assistance and flood cleanup. “Increasingly our Canadian Armed Forces are being called upon to respond to […]
What does the COP26 agreement to stop or reduce deforestation mean for Canada?
Recently, more than 100 world leaders attending the COP26 climate summit have promised to end deforestation by 2030, Canada among them. While this commitment shows promise, it will be challenging to achieve. Canada is rich in forests, with over 347 million hectares and approximately nine per cent of the world’s forests. Canada does not lose a lot of […]
Why Indigenous voices are particularly important for Canada at UN climate change negotiations
Now that COP26 in Glasgow has ended, the reactions to the final agreement are still coming in. As a non-Indigenous observer from Canada at COP26, I paid particular attention to Indigenous participants and reactions. Indigenous peoples make up less than five per cent of the global population, but despite the legacy of colonial land dispossession, […]
We need whole-community leadership on climate change
MONTREAL—With so much of the news surrounding COP26 focused on the role of nations, we mustn’t overlook the importance of cities and communities in driving a just and equitable climate transition. What’s your municipality doing to address climate change? With jurisdiction over buildings, transportation, waste and land-use planning, municipalities have influence over approximately 50 per […]
Canadian chemistry sector well-placed to lead sectoral transformations
Canada looks well-positioned to attract an increased share of investments necessary for the major transformations facing the global chemistry sector in the coming years—the transformation to net-zero carbon and the transformation to a circular economy for plastics. In Alberta, in particular, the industry is responding very positively to the province’s Petrochemical Incentive Program. That program […]
