Reducing plastic waste: is banning plastics the solution?
OTTAWA—Canadian manufacturers have been working for years to reduce plastic waste. We acknowledge the impact plastic can have on the environment when waste is not well-managed and have taken action to recycle and reduce plastic usage in our facilities, and financially supported recycling efforts. We all know that when plastics are not well-managed in our […]
We cannot afford to be naive about climate change—renewables and nuclear must work together
The issue of climate change is so colossal, and the emission reduction goals are so enormous. The stark reality is we must leverage a vast array of complementary solutions to navigate the pathway to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. This includes the right, dynamic energy mix of existing and developing technologies. There is no […]
Women community leaders urge Trudeau cabinet ministers to stop funding new nuclear reactors
Women community leaders across the country sent an open letter to several federal cabinet ministers last week urging them to stop funding new nuclear reactors and saying it’s a serious mistake “that blocks swift action on climate change.” “Canada is a member of an international nuclear waste treaty and has a legal obligation to minimize […]
Path to Canada’s green future hinges on pragmatism, transparency
The fall economic statement reaffirmed the federal government’s ambitious goal to tackle climate change. Transparency and accountability will be crucial in this fight, and Ottawa must demonstrate these attributes not just in setting targets, but also in the even more vital task of determining how we’ll meet them. In the meantime, natural resource exporters, including […]
Political opposition growing to new nuclear reactors
Many Canadians are anxious to see what our energy future will be. Politically, it’s a question that stirs passions from Alberta’s oil patch to Ontario’s cancelled wind farms. But political debate is picking up around our nuclear energy future. And with good reason. Government-funded expansion of the nuclear industry, and a simultaneous watering-down of regulations, […]
Renewables are driving a clean and just recovery towards a low-carbon economy
There is a clear and urgent need to hasten the transition to a low-carbon economy. Indeed, the transition we sorely needed over the past few decades has been so delayed and unenthusiastic that we now require a transformation in order to meet our Paris Agreement commitments, including limiting dangerous warming to 1.5 C. Nonetheless, the […]
Feds’ tree-planting program faces hurdles, with many questions left unanswered, say experts
The government’s recent fall economic statement provided the first official costing of its pledge to plant two billion trees by 2030, pegged at $3.2-billion, a promise experts warn will face big ecological and logistical hurdles given the short timeframe. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) first promised to spend $3-billion “to clean our air and […]
While building back better we need #naturenow
Pre-pandemic, the climate crisis was already critical. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had released its landmark report, the United Nations had declared 2020 a “Nature Super Year,” and a record number of communities across Canada declared climate states of emergencies. COVID-19 may have slowed our pace of life and created a temporary dip in […]
It’s not too late to make Canada a world biodiversity champion with conservation finance
If you believe COVID-19 was a costly calamity and climate change a global disaster, just wait for the biodiversity crisis set to be in full motion 10 to 15 years from now. We are actually entering the sixth period of mass extinction since the Earth was formed. Between 1970 and 2016, more than 68 per […]
Rethinking resources towards zero-carbon next-generation cities
Many countries have promised to become carbon neutral by 2050. In the Paris climate agreement, Canada committed to a 30 per cent carbon dioxide reduction by 2030, and recently proposed draft legislation to reach zero carbon by 2050. Cities are great drivers of change and can be the most sustainable form of human development, with […]
