Canada: Energy, environment & climate change 2020-2022

How protecting natural areas in Canada can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, new report reveals
(CTV) The report from The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) suggests that an estimated 6 per cent, or 40.3 megatonnes, of Canada’s current annual emissions, could be reduced by investing in natural landscapes and protecting ecosystems.
Nature-based climate solutions (NBCS) are ecosystems around Canada that naturally absorb and store carbon, like forests, wetlands and grasslands. They can absorb some of the human-caused emissions and are often referred to as “carbon sinks”.
The CCA believes “full implementation” of protection and investment into NBCS can bring other benefits to Canadians on top of the carbon-capturing powers.
Some of the benefits include coastal flood control, improved air and water quality, reduced soil erosion, reduced heat-island effect, which is increased temperatures in urban areas due to less natural landscapes, and greater biodiversity.
Nature-Based Climate Solutions
The Expert Panel on Canada’s Carbon Sink Potential
Nature-Based Climate Solutions provides an overview of the mitigation potential of natural carbon sinks, including the global significance of Canadian carbon sinks; options for enhancing carbon sequestration or reducing emissions in various ecosystems; and the potential co-benefits and barriers to implementing NBCSs in Canada. The report also explores how Indigenous Peoples are key partners in carbon sequestration initiatives in Canada.

1 December
From New York Times Opinion, I’m Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and this is “First Person,” a show where we talk to people about how they come to their opinions and what it means to live with them.
He Sold a Message of Climate Doom. He Has Regrets.
For Justin Trudeau’s climate minister, changing tactics has come at a price.
(NYT) “I see my role, and I think certainly the prime minister of Canada sees my role as being an activist inside government as opposed to what I used to do, being an activist outside government. So in some ways, the work I do hasn’t changed so much. I push, and push, and push every day so that Canada can go faster in reducing our dependencies to fossil fuels.”

24 November
Canada unveils new climate adaptation strategy with more than $1-billion commitment
Canada’s first climate adaptation strategy, unveiled today, commits the federal government to new targets for preventing extreme heat deaths, reversing species loss and protecting homes in flood- and wildfire-prone areas.
Environment and Climate Change Canada released the strategy — which has been almost two years in the making — in Prince Edward Island, one of the Atlantic provinces that felt the brunt of Hurricane Fiona in September.
The strategy envisions a country prepared to deal with the worst impacts of climate change. The high-level document talks about multiple targets but doesn’t provide any hard numbers. The government says its goal is to set the stage for more detailed implementation plans to be rolled out later.
The government also announced $1.6 billion over five years in new funding to help jump-start the work that needs to be done. The money is meant to improve disaster response, protect Canadians from extreme heat and health effects and top up the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund.
The funding required from the public and private sectors to address the impacts of climate change in Canada is estimated at $5.3 billion per year, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, a trade association that represents the industry.
A federal official speaking on background told reporters Thursday the new funding is a “down payment” and acknowledged more will be required to achieve the strategy’s goals.
… In the hope of resetting the country’s approach, the strategy rests on several pillars: disaster resilience, health and well-being, nature and infrastructure.
Without going into specifics, the strategy outlines several targets — such as reducing the number of people affected or killed by floods, wildfires and extreme heat.
On the infrastructure front, the strategy calls for embedding “climate change in all decisions to locate, plan, design, manage, adapt, operate and maintain infrastructure systems across their lifecycle.”
Economic analysis shows the impacts of climate change will be severe, even if the world does not exceed the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C. A recent United Nations report warned that the failure of individual nations to cut their emissions is “leading our planet to at least 2.5 degrees warming, a level deemed catastrophic by scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”
The Canadian Climate Institute estimates that by 2025, the impact of climate change could cut economic growth by $25 billion annually. More recently, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that even if the world meets its emissions reduction commitments, Canada’s real GDP will take a 5.8 per cent hit in 2100.

17 November
Canada won’t back call at COP27 to ‘phase down’ oil and gas production
(CTV) Canada won’t agree to add language calling for the phaseout of all fossil fuels — including oil and gas — to the final agreement at this year’s United Nations climate talks in Egypt, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Thursday.
The agreement from the UN conference in Scotland last year called for countries to move faster to get rid of coal-fired electricity plants that are not abated with technology to capture emissions. It was the first time a COP pact included any reference to reducing any kind of fossil fuel use.
Guilbeault said Canada’s focus is on regulations and policies that curb greenhouse gas emissions, like regulations on how much methane oil and gas producers can emit.
It’s also focusing on reducing demand for fossil fuels with policies that promote energy conservation alternatives, such as electric vehicles, clean power and more efficient buildings.
He said if Canada backed the addition of oil and gas phaseout language it would prompt pushback from the provinces, including in court.

8 November
Concordia draws international attention for its approach to sustainability
Five Nordic ambassadors meet with university researchers to discuss decarbonization, smart cities and more
Nordic countries are leaders in sustainability research and initiatives, making a meeting with Concordia’s experts a natural fit. The visitors will sit down with Concordia experts to discuss multidisciplinary approaches to tackling the climate crisis, Concordia’s work on renewable energy and decarbonization and the similar work being done in the Nordic region.
The visit will also explore the potential for collaboration on future initiatives.
Five Nordic countries’ representatives to Canada will be in Montreal on November 8 and 9 for a joint “Nordic Diplomacy” visit, which will include:
Five Nordic countries’ representatives to Canada will be in Montreal on November 8 and 9 for a joint “Nordic Diplomacy” visit, which will include:
Hlynur Guðjónsson, Icelandic ambassador
Hanne Fugl Eskjær, Danish ambassador
Roy Eriksson, Finnish ambassador
Erik Furu, Deputy Head of Mission, Royal Norwegian Embassy
Urban Ahlin, Swedish ambassador
The diplomats will engage with a variety of stakeholders and the public to discuss Nordic priorities, policy issues and collaboration between Montreal, Quebec and the Nordic region.

28 October
Ottawa restricting foreign state-owned investments in critical minerals
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the new approach in a statement Friday, saying critical minerals are key to Canada’s prosperity and security.
“Increasing demand and constrained supply of these all-important minerals are presenting Canada with a generational economic opportunity, and the government of Canada is committed to seizing that opportunity while delivering on its ambitious climate goals,” the ministers said.

21 October
Canada still hasn’t met its 2020 biodiversity targets. Here are 3 possible solutions
The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity will meet in Montreal to address accelerating species decline globally and negotiate a new framework for protecting nature, with a key commitment of conserving at least 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030.
Canada, a member of the High Ambition Coalition, has already committed to the 30 by 30 pledge. Yet the federal government has failed to meet its biodiversity commitments for 2020, casting doubt on how likely it is to achieve those 2030 goals.
The most recent data shows land and freshwater conservation in Canada is falling short of the 17 per cent target for 2020, with 13.5 per cent of terrestrial area currently protected. In terms of protecting marine life, the country has made more progress — 13.9 per cent of marine and coastal areas is conserved, surpassing the 2020 goal of 10 per cent.
Grassroots stewardship
A Canadian initiative launched in October hopes to help spur grassroots action by making it easier for the public at large to understand where crucial habitats are located.
Accounting for forests and wetlands — literally
Another idea being pitched is adding biodiversity to the balance sheet, so to speak, to ensure natural assets are factored into government decision-making.
A recent paper, from the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, calls for the establishment of national guidelines to value green infrastructure (wetlands, forests and lakes) in the same way that is standard practice for “grey” infrastructure (roads, dams and water treatment plants).
A stronger federal biodiversity law
Some activists say what’s needed is a federal law to guarantee the protection of flora and fauna in the country.
Salomé Sané, a Greenpeace Canada climate campaigner who worked on a paper calling for biodiversity legislation, said a law would hold Ottawa accountable on translating biodiversity promises into concrete action.

20 October
Politico Ottawa Playbook: GOING NUCLEAR — Canadians for Nuclear Energy president CHRIS KEEFER, an ER doctor by trade, blitzed a pair of partial party caucuses on the Hill.
His message: go all in on nuclear energy.
Keefer chatted with Labor Minister SEAMUS O’REGAN for about 10 minutes. He found time with Procurement Minister HELENA JACZEK. He briefly met Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU outside the House of Commons. On the Tory side, Keefer bent the ear of deputy leader TIM UPPAL.
Were they receptive? Keefer, who assured Playbook he doesn’t get paid a cent by industry, claimed his message resonated — particularly with MPs from New Brunswick and Ontario, where an aging nuclear plant just scored a life extension.
Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON [is] on the agenda at a Canadian Nuclear Association financing summit today, where he’ll sit down for a “fireside chat” about the “growing potential of the nuclear sector.”
— What industry wants to hear: Pro-nuclear types are looking for signs that Liberals are willing to look at their favorite kind of energy as a path to emissions reductions and economic recovery.
MARK CARNEY is a keynote speaker. Recall that Carney, the vice-chair of Brookfield Asset Management whose job is to think about the transition away from fossil fuels, said these words to investors in September: “There’s no transition that works without nuclear, full stop.”

14 October
Canada would back ‘economically viable’ new LNG terminals, Freeland says
(Globe & Mail) Canada will look at supporting more liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals as long as they are economically feasible because they are needed to keep the world from burning coal again amid the current energy crunch, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday.
LNG “is an important transition fuel,” Freeland told reporters in Washington at the end of annual IMF and World Bank meetings. “We will always be looking at economically viable LNG projects.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited in August, looking for Canada – the world’s fifth largest producer of natural gas – to play a “major role” in filling the shortfall brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but went home with no promises.
On Friday, Freeland appeared to leave the door open to the possibility, as has Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, saying that she had heard finance ministers in Washington this week say they were having to burn more coal because of the soaring cost of LNG.

13 October
People in communities threatened by natural disasters might have to consider moving, minister says
‘Can we force people to move? … Urban planning is not a federal jurisdiction.’ — Steven Guilbeault

9 October
Canada, host of the UN biodiversity summit, is struggling to meet its own targets
The land of the great outdoors isn’t doing so great at protecting its great outdoors
It was the spring of 2014, … then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper … announced at a May news conference in New Maryland, N.B., that by 2020 Canada would protect 17 per cent of its land and inland waters, and 10 per cent of marine and coastal areas. At the time, 10.5 per cent of land and only one per cent of marine area was protected.
Fast forward to 2022, federal governments have changed and those pre-pandemic days may feel like a distant memory, but one thing that remains constant is that Canada continues to struggle to meet its own biodiversity goals.
[Biodiversity]’s declining at unprecedented rates globally, which threatens not only wildlife and natural spaces, but also human food security and genetic resources necessary for medicine and science.
When it comes to protecting the land and water that house those natural assets, the latest data show Canada is coming up short.
Biodiversity in Canada: Commitments and Trends.
In light of the United Nations–recognized emergency facing the world’s biodiversity, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, on behalf of the Auditor General of Canada, plans to release several performance audits related to biodiversity, between 2022 and 2024. This backgrounder provides general information on Canada’s commitments to biodiversity protection and specifically on the status and trends of species at risk as background to the performance audit reports on specific biodiversity topics.
Canada is home to an estimated 80,000 species, including mammals, birds, fish, plants, amphibians, reptiles, and insects. Species such as caribou, polar bears, beavers, and loons are depicted on Canadian coins and are among the most widely recognized species in the country. More than 300 species are found exclusively in Canada. Unfortunately, some of Canada’s species that were once quite common, such as bison, Atlantic cod, and the monarch butterfly, have declined drastically to the point that they are at risk. What was once North America’s most common bird, the passenger pigeon, is extinct.
Plants and animals in Canada are dispersed across various landscapes and ecosystems: forests, grasslands, wetlands, lakes and rivers, coastal ecosystems, oceans, and ice. The greatest diversity of species is in the south, where most Canadians live. However, other areas of Canada maintain extensive intact habitats of global significance. Canada has approximately 24% of the world’s boreal forests and about 25% of the world’s temperate forests. Canada’s 1.5 million square kilometres of wetlands make up about 25% of the world’s total. Canada also has the world’s longest coastline, 2 million lakes, and the third-largest area of glaciers in the world.
Biodiversity in Canada is at risk, with thousands of species in danger of disappearing. The national conservation status of species at risk is assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, which sets out several risk categories.

5 October
Nature in the balance: but still not on the balance sheet
As Canada prepares to unveil its National Adaptation Strategy at COP27, and to host the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal, nature is still assigned a value of “zero” in our financial and accounting system.
New paper calling for recognition of the financial value provided by natural assets, co-authored by the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, KPMG and the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative, argues for a revamp of accounting rules to safeguard natural resilience.
The services that nature provides to Canadians are not routinely valued in investment decisions, asset management or financial reporting. As a result, economic decisions continue to lead to the degradation of natural assets, such as rivers, wetlands, and forests. To tackle the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, the United Nations is urging G20 countries (like Canada) to triple their investment in nature-based solutions by 2030.
“Wetlands, forests, saltmarshes and grasslands aren’t only vital to biodiversity,” agrees Mike Pedersen, Chair of Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Corporate Director, and Chair, Nature Conservancy of Canada. “They are our front-line allies in reducing the impacts of flooding and erosion, extreme heat and drought, as well as removing carbon emissions to slow down climate change. The value of these services makes nature a sound economic driver – we need an accounting system that recognises this reality.”

26 September
East Coast beginning long road to recovery from the devastation post-tropical storm Fiona left behind
Atlantic Canadians emerged from their battered homes Sunday to take stock of the destruction left behind by Fiona, one of the most devastating post-tropical storms ever to hit the region.
Crews were working through the night to restore service to hundreds of thousands still without electricity, as the Canadian Armed Forces mobilized to help with the cleanup effort and both federal and provincial leaders promised financial relief for affected property owners and communities.
Officials said it would take many months to rebuild infrastructure and homes destroyed by Fiona, which brought hurricane-strength winds, dangerous ocean storm surges and heavy rains. The disaster claimed at least one life, after a 73-year-old woman in Port aux Basques, N.L. was swallowed by a wave that struck her house.
The massive storm, the most powerful tropical cyclone recorded in Canada, left its terrible mark on a huge area that included southwestern Newfoundland, eastern mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, southeastern New Brunswick and the Magdalen Islands in eastern Quebec. Residents described the horror of a storm so powerful it swept houses into the sea, uprooted trees like twigs, snapped telephone poles, washed away roads and tossed boats and cars aside as if they were toys.

29 August
We need rare earth elements for a greener future, but there’s a catch
A group of 17 minerals has potential to be a major economic driver for Canada
(CBC) In the push to transition from fossil fuels to greener energy, a key piece of the puzzle is accessing materials to help accelerate the technological shift — namely, rare earth elements.
They are crucial for building components for everything from wind turbines and electric-vehicle motors to cell phones and other products.
But they also come with lingering questions over the short- and long-term environmental impacts associated with the mining process.
Canada currently has only one operational mine, in the Northwest Territories, but with large known reserves there is big potential for more.
So how do we balance the need for mining the minerals with those environmental risks associated with the operations? And where does climate change fit in?

26 August
What is Canada’s place in the new Great Game, over the control of critical minerals and rare earths?
By Robert Muggah, a principal of SecDev Group and co-founder of the Igarape Institute.
(Globe & Mail opinion) Although Canada arrived late to the contest, it will have a consequential role to play in what is shaping up to be one of the defining struggles of our era. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government only started crafting a critical-minerals strategy in 2021, when it released a list that prioritized 31 minerals, especially cobalt, coltan, copper, graphite, lithium and rare earths. After commissioning studies, the federal government launched public consultations this year to define priorities and start bolstering supply chains.
The 2022 federal budget allocated up to $3.8-billion precisely to expand exploration and provide tax credits for critical-mineral exploration, invest in responsible mineral processing and recycling, expand partnerships and court foreign investors. In order to catch up with China, Canada’s stated goal is to expand critical-mineral and rare-earth supplies, build out refining capacities and work with allies, including through a joint action plan for critical minerals signed with the U.S. in 2020 and a newly minted partnership this month with Germany.
While the road ahead is uncertain, there are grounds for cautious optimism that Canada can achieve its goals. The country already produces 60 minerals and metals that are in high global demand, and it is also home to an estimated 14 million tonnes of rare-earth oxides. Although Canada has some of the largest known rare-earths reserves in the world, it is not yet a major producer. But it is making progress, including opening its first rare-earths mining demo in the Northwest Territories in 2021 – only the second such facility in North America.
And despite its slow entry into the rare-earth industry and criticism from rights groups over its mining practices abroad, Canada has global influence when it comes to mining. More than half of the world’s publicly listed mining and mineral-exploration companies are based in the country, with a combined market capitalization of more than $500-billion and a presence in at least 100 countries.
Canada and its partners still face major obstacles to meet their ambitions, including from China. In acquisitions that were recently questioned by a bipartisan parliamentary committee on industry and technology, China has been quietly buying up key mines in Canada, including some that produce high-grade lithium and cesium along with gold and other base metals. (China has encroached on Canada’s critical minerals industry, with almost no obstruction from Ottawa)

23 August
Canada signs deal with Germany to export hydrogen to Europe by 2025
The Canadian and German governments have signed a deal to co-operate on exporting hydrogen fuel to Europe, setting an ambitious target of 2025 to begin shipments from Eastern Canada – where a single hydrogen production plant has yet to be built.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signed the agreement in the western Newfoundland town of Stephenville, near the site of a proposed wind farm project that would power the production of hydrogen from electrolysis.
The joint declaration of intent makes clear the agreement is not legally binding and stipulates it will be up to Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources and Germany’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action to keep track of whether it’s making progress on its goals.
Does Canada’s liquefied natural gas offer a climate solution or more reliance on fossil fuels?
(CBC Radio The Current) Could Canada’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) be a cleaner option in weaning the world away from coal or would increasing LNG production just increase our reliance on fossil fuels? Guest host Nora Young talks to Edward Greenspon, CEO of an independent think tank called the Public Policy Forum (A Leadership Blueprint for Canada’s High-ESG Gas); and Nichole Dusyk, a senior policy advisor for the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Atlantic Premiers Meet in Newfoundland and Labrador to Discuss Regional Cooperation on Renewable Energy
Atlantic Premiers met [on 23 August] to continue their collaborative efforts to demonstrate leadership in the pursuit of emissions reductions, clean power generation and transmission and future-oriented energy development.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey welcomed Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King to Stephenville where they attended the signing of the Joint Declaration of Intent between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of Canada on Establishing a Germany-Canada Hydrogen Alliance.
Premiers discussed ways in which regional proponents and governments can work together to facilitate the establishment of a green hydrogen industry in the region during a roundtable discussion with industry leaders and federal ministers.

22 August
Ben Simoni helps steer the way for the Youth Climate Corps
As the executive director of the Youth Climate Corps, this 32-year-old provides young people with living-wage jobs that include training, certifications, networks and future employment opportunities while implementing local solutions to the climate crisis.

16 August
Canada eyes cash for critical minerals in Biden’s big new climate bill
(CBC) The legislation that passed last week established preferential tax treatment for electric vehicles assembled anywhere in North America.
… Less noticed in the bill was a pot of money containing hundreds of millions of dollars to jump-start a new domestic industry in components for electric-vehicle batteries.
The ripple-effects could eventually be felt across the border, up into remote Canadian mining communities.
… Those funds are now at Biden’s disposal to enact his stated plan to develop new suppliers for lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese, as well as heat pumps.
…a document recently posted on the White House website, from a binational panel explicitly mentions Canada being included as a domestic source under the U.S. Defense Production Act and says that creates potential co-operation opportunities on critical minerals.
BUT what about
China has encroached on Canada’s critical minerals industry, with almost no obstruction from Ottawa
For the past two decades, China has built up a powerful position in Canada’s critical minerals and mining sector, with little oversight from Ottawa

11 August
Canada is pushing ‘clean’ hydrogen to the world — with no end in sight for fossil fuels
(National Observer) Decades from now, the natural resources minister and his government want hydrogen to generate electricity, power vehicles, heat buildings and play a part in cleaning up heavy-polluting industries like steel making. Specialized ships will dock at ports in Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver to load up on made-in-Canada liquid hydrogen, destined for European and Asian markets.
While that may be on the horizon, it’s a long way off and far from certain. In the short term, Canada is focused on executing Step 1 of its grand energy strategy — facilitating the construction of export terminals to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) overseas. The federal government says that will eventually lead to Step 2, when one day, that infrastructure will ship hydrogen as well.

19 April
‘War on climate change’: Tesla-backed engineer Jeff Dahn seeks a million-mile battery
Dalhousie professor is one of the pioneers of the lithium-ion batteries
(Financial Post) In March, Dahn received a Killiam Prize, a $100,000 grant given annually by the Canada Council of the Arts to five researchers “who have actively devoted their careers to pushing the boundaries of knowledge and finding solutions to the issues we face every day.”

31 March
The political opportunities and challenges of Canada’s new $9.1B climate plan
Kathryn Harrison, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia
The good news is that there’s plenty of detail here and an opportunity for vigorous questions in Parliament. The worry is that it can all still go off the rails as we move from releasing a plan with great fanfare to less visible and more technical policy development.
A lot is resting on the required 2023 and 2025 updates, third-party evaluations by the Net-Zero Advisory Body and the Canadian Climate Institute, and members of Parliament’s willingness to dig into the details.
(The Conversation) With the release of Ottawa’s new “2030 Emissions Reduction Plan” this week, Canada has entered a new phase of climate policy. The 270-page document lays out the path the federal government will take to meet Canada’s Paris Agreement target to cut emissions by 40 per cent to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
The new climate plan is the first to be produced under the new Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which mandates that governments show how they will meet emissions targets and regularly report on their progress. The plan seeks to launch Canada’s economic transformation en route to net zero in 2050 through a combination of $9.1 billion in public spending and regulatory measures.
This is Canada’s 10th climate plan since 1990, and only the second to offer a plausible strategy to meet a national target. The first eight plans varied greatly in detail — it’s hard to say whether some even qualify as plans — but all either exaggerated how effective popular policies like subsidies would be, fudged expected reliance on international credits or left a gap for future plans and didn’t even pretend the target would be met.

29 March
2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy

2021

23 December
Winter road salting has year-round consequences
Winter road salting is a common de-icing technique used to ensure public safety during icy winters. However, it is crucial to find sustainable and environment-friendly alternatives to road salt.
By Lauren Lawson, PhD Student, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
(The Conversation) Road salts are used to remove ice from surfaces like roads, sidewalks and parking lots. When people talk about road salts, they are often concerned with what salt may be doing to their vehicles, dog’s paws or winter boots.
There are also some environmental concerns, as road salt ultimately makes its way into our soils, local lakes and rivers. Salty water flows into our soils and local water bodies through surface runoff and stormwater pipes, and eventually makes its way into groundwater. This furthers the long-term storage of salt in the environment and further impacts freshwater aquatic life, government infrastructure and drinking water.
These concerns are usually voiced during the winter, when we actively see salt trucks and piles of salt on our drives or walks to work and school. While some of our worries disappear as the warm spring weather comes, my research shows the effects of extensive road salting on the environment last year round.

21 November
River above, trouble below: A What On Earth special report
A “river in the sky” triggered landslides and floods that brought the climate crisis home. In this special report, hear what happened in B.C., and how to chart a path forward with solutions, strength, and hope.
What are atmospheric rivers, and how are they affecting the B.C. floods?

19 November
The B.C. flooding isn’t just a regional catastrophe – it’s a warning that climate change is coming for everyone
The deluge was extraordinary not just in terms of intensity (the town of Hope quintupled its previous highest rainfall) but also for its geographical extent: 20 new rain records stretched from Vancouver Island to Yoho National Park on Alberta’s border. It was the wettest 24 hours on record in parts of southern British Columbia.
By now you’ve seen the result. Highways, bridges and train tracks all obliterated by a landscape in revolt. Farmland reclaimed by lakes that were drained in the 1800s. Waterfalls bursting from dry mountainsides. Merritt, submerged and evacuated. Hope, poetically cut off from civilization. Metro Vancouver’s 2.5 million residents likewise deprived of all rail and road contact with the rest of Canada.
This will likely be, by far, the most expensive climate disaster in our country’s history. The cost of fixing all those roads and railways alone will be staggering, to say nothing of insurance claims or the catastrophic impact on supply chains. The full implications of this catastrophe alone would merit a prolonged national conversation.

28 October
Canada leads G20 in financing fossil fuels, lags in renewables funding, report says
A new report from Oil Change International found Canada provided an average of almost $14 billion a year in public support for fossil fuels between 2018 and 2020
(CBC) Canadian fossil fuel producers receive more public financial support than any others in the developed world, according to a new analysis.
And compared to subsidies for oil, gas and coal, renewable energy gets less government help in Canada than in any other G20 country, say the latest figures from Oil Change International.
“They’re very much going in the wrong direction,” said Bronwen Tucker, who helped prepare the report for the group, which has been tracking public finance of fossil fuels since 2012.
The report, which includes 2019 and 2020, adds up loans, loan guarantees, grants, share purchases and insurance coverage provided to fossil fuel producers by governments, government agencies and government-owned multinational development banks.

9 August
What the new UN report warning of climate impacts means for Canadians
Expect more heat waves, fires and flood events in future
(CBC) The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) once again issued a dire report warning that without a radical reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions, we are on a course for global warming that will have grave consequences.
Monday’s report, which examined several scenarios including one of low carbon emissions and one of high carbon emissions, or a business-as-usual approach, said the planet has already warmed almost 1.2 C. The IPCC is calling on world governments to reduce CO2 emissions to limit that warming to 1.5 C, though it appears we may hit that threshold within the next two decades unless drastic reductions are made.
We are already seeing the effects of climate change across Canada, including more intense wildfires, heat waves and drought. There is nowhere — and no one — that will not be affected. Here are just some of the impacts we can expect across the country.
Deep changes in the Arctic
The Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of the rest of the world and according to the report, it’s “virtually certain” that it will continue for the rest of the century. And that comes with many consequences.

Line 5 pipeline between U.S. and Canada could cause ‘devastating damage’ to Great Lakes, say environmentalists
Canadian officials siding with Enbridge to keep pipeline running despite Michigan’s claims it is unsafe
(CBC) An aging pipeline that carries oil along the bottom of the ecologically sensitive and turbulent Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet, is in such a state of disrepair it could burst at any moment and cause catastrophic damage to the Great Lakes, environmentalists warn.
Line 5 was designed in 1953 to have a lifespan of 50 years, or until 2003. Eighteen years later, it’s still running, and has had its fair share of problems.
Since 1953, Line 5 has leaked 29 times, spilling 4.5 million litres of oil into the environment, according to media reports.

11 July
‘Heat dome’ probably killed 1bn marine animals on Canada coast, experts say
British Columbia scientist says heat essentially cooked mussels: ‘The shore doesn’t usually crunch when you walk’
(The Guardian) More than 1 billion marine animals along Canada’s Pacific coast are likely to have died from last week’s record heatwave, experts warn, highlighting the vulnerability of ecosystems unaccustomed to extreme temperatures.
… The mass death of shellfish would temporarily affect water quality because mussels and clams help filter the sea, Harley said, keeping it clear enough that sunlight reaches the eelgrass beds while also creating habitats for other species.
Extreme heat boils Canada’s waters and shellfish (Reuters video)

6 July
Taxpayers have spent at least $23B on pipeline subsidies and supports since 2018: report
As calls to end government subsidies of fossil fuels grow in intensity, a new report finds that Canadian governments have allocated billions of taxpayer dollars to building and expanding new pipelines in the past year alone.
According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Canadian governments have deployed at least $23 billion to support pipelines since 2018. This is highest figure for government subsidies and supports for the fossil fuels industry ever reported, IISD said.
Nearly half of that sum — $10 billion — was earmarked after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the IISD report states.

3 July
$1.9B a year to address natural disasters in Canada among 4 takeaways from federal climate report
With British Columbia recording its hottest temperatures on record, the federal government released its latest major report on climate change, probing how a warming planet will impact everything from infrastructure to tourism and geopolitics.
The costs of natural disasters from extreme weather are rising rapidly, averaging $1.9 billion annually, up about $400 million from a decade ago, a senior official with Natural Resources Canada told journalists on Monday.
“There is abundant research indicating that current efforts to adapt are insufficient in the face of rapidly accumulating social and economic losses from current and future climate change impacts,” according to the report, Canada in a Changing Climate: National Issues.
Covering legal risks, shipping routes, farming, migration and more, here are four key takeaways from the 734-page report released on Monday afternoon.
Infrastructure threats; Rising legal risks for government, companies; Geopolitics: Arctic shipping changes, migration pressures; A silver lining in tourism, agriculture?
Meanwhile:
3 July
Crews battle more than 170 wildfires in B.C. as drying conditions continue

30 June
Deadly Canadian heatwave still shattering records
Canada’s deadly heatwave, the most severe on record, is expected this week to continue surpassing high temperatures seen decades ago, according to climatologists. (video)

29 June
59 temperature records broken in a single day as B.C. swelters under ‘heat dome’

Stumps from an old clear-cut remain on the mountainside near the Fairy Creek watershed.

10 June
First Nations tell B.C. to defer old growth logging on territories including Fairy Creek
A major development in the battle over old growth logging on Vancouver Island. Three First Nations have issued a declaration, calling on the province to bring a temporary halt to the harvesting of ancient timber in an area that has been the focus of ongoing protests.
The Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht, and Pacheedaht First Nations have formally given notice to the B.C. government to defer old-growth logging for two years in the Fairy Creek and Central Walbran areas of Vancouver Island while the Nations prepare formal forestry plans.
The agreement, signed on Saturday, is in addition to the decision of Huu-ay-aht First Nations to defer logging of its treaty lands.
“We are in a place of reconciliation now and relationships have evolved to include First Nations. It is time for us to learn from the mistakes that have been made and take back our authority over our ḥahahuułi (traditional territories),” a short statement by Head Hereditary Chief Derek Peters, Hereditary Chief Paul Tate and Hereditary Chief Frank Queesto Jones said.

27 May – Updated 10 June
Fairy Creek blockade: What you need to know about the anti-logging protest in B.C.
A protest over old growth forests is shaping up to be B.C.’s largest act of civil disobedience over logging in decades. Here’s what’s at stake
Port Renfrew has built up a recreational tourism brand as the “tall tree capital of Canada” and the Fairy Creek watershed is surrounded by giants, including the world’s largest Douglas fir, and Canada’s largest Sitka spruce. … The forests here are home to a host of endangered species including Western screech owls, Northern Goshawk and Northern Red-legged frogs.
British Columbia has set aside 10 million hectares of old-growth forests as park land or other designations to limit industrial development, but unlike some countries such as New Zealand, old-growth logging is still permitted. And while Canada and B.C. have legal protections for endangered species that live in these forests, those rules can be narrowly applied. Even in areas that are protected, enforcement is limited. Poaching is increasingly a threat, given record-high prices for lumber, but policing resources are stretched thin.
There is increasing recognition that biodiversity depends on intact ecosystems, and as of 2020, there were 1,680 species at risk of extinction in the province – more than any other province or territory in Canada. For B.C., the key to conserving natural biological diversity is held in protecting its old-forest lands. In 2019, the province commissioned a report on how to protect those ancient ecosystems. The authors noted that B.C. is at high risk to loss of biodiversity because of poor management of its forests. The report calls for a paradigm shift that begins with the understanding that these old-growth forests are not renewable, and can be worth more left standing than logged.

Earth Day 2021: Canada’s latest budget falls dangerously short on climate action
The snail’s pace of action in this year’s federal budget is out of step with the urgency of the climate and income inequality crises. It’s done nothing to threaten the plutocracy’s hold on power and privilege. Most disconcerting, Canada remains an outlier in the global effort to prevent the slide towards the climate abyss.
(The Conversation) The 724-page federal budget made vital spending commitments to extend supports to Canadians as the pandemic shock waves continue. It also made critical social safety net improvements, most notably universal child care and increases in old age security and supports for eldercare.
But where is the road map to reduce Canada’s carbon emissions? If we are to have a serious chance of meeting net-zero targets by 2050, Canada must phase out fossil fuel production and use, eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and financing, and end all carbon-emitting activity. This is especially true given that Canada provides more public finance to the fossil fuel sector per capita than any other G20 country.
In a paper for the Cascade Institute, University of Waterloo academics Angela Carter and Truzar Dordi have calculated, based on government projections, that fossil fuel production in Canada is scheduled to rise until 2039 and remain above current levels in 2050. They conclude that Canada, with 0.5 per cent of the world’s population, would exhaust 16 per cent of the world’s remaining carbon budget to maintain emissions below 1.5C.

2020

Alberta is planning new mountaintop-removal coal mines.
(The Narwhal) In short, the UCP removed a system of land classification that prohibited surface coal mining in more than a million hectares of the foothills and Rocky Mountains — areas important to First Nations and for the protection of numerous species at risk.
It wasn’t just First Nations that were upset by the announcement. Conservation groups, already worried about the loss of protected lands as the UCP government moved to de-list dozens of parks and recreation areas, warned the decision would put more landscapes in jeopardy. Then came the ranching community, concerned native grasslands and prime pasture would be destroyed.
“You’re not going to put a mountain back, you’re not going to put the native grasses back and you’re definitely not going to revert it back to pasture land,” Laura Laing, a third-generation rancher who lives west of Nanton, Alta., said in October.
Then, in December, Alberta accepted offers from Australian coal companies to mine nearly a dozen parcels of land spanning close to 2,000 hectares, seen by many as just the beginning of new coal leases in the region.

18 December
Dene National Chief calls on gov’t to act on Alberta’s leaking tailings ponds
(RCI) A recent report that documents the leakage of tailings ponds in Alberta has Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya calling on provincial and federal governments to establish stricter regulations. … Yakeleya was referring to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s 208-page Alberta Tailings Ponds report, released this fall, which details how tailings ponds across northern Alberta could pose a threat to nearby waterways, including the Athabasca River.
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson said the findings in the report cannot be ignored.
“Enough is enough. Oil sands tailings must be addressed,” Wilkinson said in an emailed statement to CBC.
“We will ensure enforcement officers will be given the tools they need to ensure polluters are held to account when environmental laws are broken.”

26 November
Canada, a critical-minerals superpower? Let’s pause for a reality check
There’s this emerging notion of Canada as an impending superpower in mining the critical minerals that will run defining technologies of this century, from electric vehicles to smartphones and solar panels.
(CBC)…global surveys suggest Canada holds a tiny percentage of mineable worldwide reserves of critical minerals and is not only way behind world-dominating China but lots of other countries too.
So now that the rest of planet Earth has woken up to the economic importance of several dozen industrial minerals like cobalt and lithium, here’s the outlook.
The International Energy Agency predicts demand for critical minerals will double by 2040, or even quadruple if we get serious about meeting our Paris climate commitments.
Electric vehicle purchases are expected to grow tenfold this decade, stoking an insatiable appetite for lithium batteries and the cobalt that prevents them from melting.
… The Canadian government says the USGS reports don’t tell the whole story, because they define reserves as currently economically viable mining sites, failing to capture the vast potential lying in the ground.
To help tap that potential the latest federal budget spent $9.6 million to start a critical minerals office and $47.7 million for research on processing and refining.
The challenges for Canada are spelled out in a recent Commons committee study: remote, hard-to-reach sites, cold weather, environmental considerations, and necessary Indigenous-Crown consultations.

25 November
Canada’s new climate plan: Q&A about Bill C-12
Bill C-12 is not a plan for Canada to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, but it would set targets to help it succeed.
(The Conversation) On Nov. 19, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson unveiled what was billed as a “Net-Zero Emissions Plan.” What we got is most emphatically not a plan, but it is a piece of legislation that demands Canada set targets and develop plans that will get us to net-zero emissions by 2050.
The government hasn’t set any targets yet, or told us how we will get there. But moving to net-zero emissions over a 30-year timeframe means that Canada needs to start targeting emission reductions of three per cent to four per cent each year. On the whole, Canadians emitted the equivalent of 729 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide in 2018, so we will need to reduce emissions by more than 20 Mt every year.
If we started to achieve these sorts of reductions now, in 2020, we would just about meet our current target, which is a 30 per cent reduction from 2005 emission levels by 2030.

19 November
Globe & Mail editorial board: Trudeau proposes a net-zero emissions plan – for the next government
Adam Radwanski: By international standards, the Liberals’ climate-change bill is underwhelming
…there is the federal-provincial challenge, for which there is admittedly no easy solution. There is only so much that Ottawa can do to meet its targets without buy-in from subnational governments with strong hands in everything from industrial regulation to transportation. Constitutionally, it also can’t force specific emissions-reductions targets on each province.

16 November
Green wave: How Canadian cities are creating new park space
(Globe & Mail) For people cooped up at home because of COVID-19, green places to get fresh air are essential – and cities that don’t have enough are finding more ways to fit them in
The demand for green space will also grow in the coming decades as millions of people move to Canada. Most will come to cities, and many will live in multiresidential buildings without private outdoor access. “The pandemic just shone such a direct light on parks as essential urban infrastructure,” says Dave Harvey, executive director of Park People. “It’s right up there with the need for roads and water and sewers and schools. This is absolutely essential urban infrastructure.”
One challenge is that mature cities often have little room in which to build new parks, and acquiring land can be prohibitively expensive.

11 November
Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium Urges the Federal Government to Commit $3 Billion More Annually for Public Transit Infrastructure in the Fall Economic Statement to Build a Better Canada
In your government’s Speech from the Throne, you committed to building a stronger and more resilient Canada through an inclusive recovery. CUTRIC’s members, including transit agencies, advanced manufacturers, utilities, government agencies, academics and not-for-profits, welcomed this ambition, because we share your vision of a cleaner, better Canada. We are eager to work together to achieve it and recently published CUTRIC a Five Point Plan for building back better transit, outlining what is required to do in order to get there. Public transit is at the heart of an inclusive recovery, and we must prioritize measures that will build the public transit systems Canada needs now, and in the future. A big, bold vision such as the one your government presented can only be realized with appropriate amounts of investment to get it done. As your government determines the path forward to implementing these promises and making your vision a reality, now is the opportunity to make the investments necessary to achieve your objectives and support Canadians that desperately need relief.
That is why CUTRIC is urging the Government of Canada to commit to an additional $3 billion more per year as part of a stable, predictable funding stream for public transit infrastructure to build a better Canada in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement.

5 October
Canada is starting to answer the call on UN Sustainable Development Goals
(The Conversation) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the United Nations General Assembly this year by way of pre-recorded video.
The COVID-19 crisis has shown that “things have to change,” he declared in the international spotlight. “Not just on the world stage, but at home, too.”
Trudeau’s speech to the United Nations was bold in tone and content. He highlighted several of the UN’s Global Goals — tackling climate change, inequality and health and women’s rights.
… Internationally, Canada adopted a new policy vision in 2017 for international assistance in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With its Feminist International Assistance Policy, Canada is playing a leading role helping the poorest countries make progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada is pursuing its international policy on sustainable development and scoring points on the world stage by leading the global support for recovery after COVID-19. It’s doing so by ensuring that the UN’s SDGs are not at risk during the pandemic.

25 September
Oil sands tailings ponds are toxic. Canadian-made nanotech could help fix that
(CBC) Tiny floating solar-powered beads can break apart the worst of the tailings pond toxins
Tiny glass-like bubbles developed at the University of Waterloo show a lot of promise for dealing with the most toxic components of oil sands tailings ponds.
Large numbers of the bubbles could be dropped into the ponds and, powered by the sun, would chemically break down some nasty organic wastes.
Tailings ponds store water used in oil sands extraction, and contain a complex mixture of wastes that are toxic to vegetation and animals.
A recent report by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation described “scientifically valid evidence” that Alberta’s oil sands tailings ponds are leaking and contaminating groundwater

9 September
Seth Klein: 7 lessons Canada should use from WW2 to fight the climate emergency
(The Conversation) Canada’s approach to climate change for the past 30 years is simply not working. Greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2018 (the last year for which we have statistics) were almost exactly where they were in the year 2000.
We have run out the clock with distracting debates about incremental changes. A new approach is needed.
I have spent the last year and a half writing a book, A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, about Canada’s Second World War experience, searching for lessons for how to confront the climate crisis and quickly transition off fossil fuels.
Our wartime experience carries a helpful — and indeed hopeful — reminder that we have done this before. We mobilized in common cause across society to confront an existential threat. And in doing so, we retooled our entire economy in a few short years.
But to execute a successful battle, we need a plan. Here then are seven key strategic lessons that emerge from our Second World War mobilization.

14 July
A Canadian Province Killed 463 Wolves for No Good Reason
A study showed that culling wolves could save caribou. But a second group of researchers saw a flaw in that conclusion.
In the spring of 2019, British Columbia’s government was embroiled in a series of high-profile community-feedback sessions concerning the conservation of mountain caribou. The endangered ungulates depend on old forests targeted for logging that also happen to grow on top of highly coveted oil-and-gas deposits. … while the 463 dead wolves represent needless tragedy, the damage from the 2019 study has and will most significantly affect the caribou, the researchers say in the rebuttal. From 2014 to 2019, 350 square miles of crucial deep-snow-caribou habitat have been lost to logging, according to a study in Conservation Science and Practice.
“wolf culls are a blunt instrument that have no real track record of protecting caribou. They do, however, offer a way for the oil-and-gas industry to fulfill caribou-conservation requirements.”

4 July
Pandemic stimulus could be a game changer for climate goals — if focus switches from fossil fuels, say some
(CBC) The economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic have forced governments around the world to resort to massive spending in order to calm the nerves of people and businesses alike.
But one question has been troubling many economists and environmental advocates: Will stimulus plans help move the world toward a cleaner, greener future or will they largely maintain the status quo, which includes protecting the interests of fossil fuel industries?
“It is a really vital moment and the reason is that we are basically out of time to turn our economies around” in terms of climate action, said Cameron Hepburn, professor of environmental economics and director of the Smith School at the University of Oxford, in an interview for the first episode of What on Earth, a new CBC Radio show focused on climate change.

2 July
Nestlé sells Pure Life bottled water business as changes to Ontario groundwater rules loom
Ice River Springs to take over Pure Life brand of bottled water
(CBC) Nestlé Canada Inc. says it is selling its Pure Life bottled water business to Ice River Springs as Ontario prepares to give its municipalities veto power over new water bottling permits.
Ice River, a Canadian family-owned bottled water producer, says the acquisition fulfils its ambition to expand beyond its private label business for retailers.
Ice River Springs runs a plastics recycling operation, BMP Recycling, that takes bottles and plastic food packaging collected by municipalities and produces food grade recycled PET plastic.
Canada’s most populous province recently announced new rules for taking groundwater, three years after the former Liberal government enacted a moratorium on new and expanded permits to take water for bottling.

30 June
How to build a better Canada after COVID-19: Launch a fossil-free future
(The Conversation) Demand for fossil fuels collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic as lockdown measures were introduced. In the second quarter of 2020, experts predict that global oil demand will be down 20 per cent from this time last year. Although demand is likely to recover somewhat in the next two years, some major oil company executives believe that it may never return to pre-2020 levels.
At the same time, the world remains “on fire” due to climate change, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. The year began with fires ravaging Australia, and in June, temperatures in the Arctic hit a record-breaking 38C.
As governments look for ways to help the Canadian economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, they must be guided by one incontestable principle: We cannot afford to invest in and expand the fossil fuel industry any further.
While emissions from other sectors in Canada have levelled off or are declining, oil sands emissions increased by 456 per cent between 1990 and 2018. Emissions from conventional oil production have also increased, but only by 24 per cent.
Despite a valiant attempt by the Alberta NDP government in 2015, successive provincial governments have failed to reduce oil sands emissions. And since the COVID-19 crisis, “green initiatives,” such as Suncor’s plan to replace coke-fired boilers with natural gas units at its base operations, have been shelved to cut costs, undermining claims from the industry that it is part of the solution.

14 June
Rolling back Canadian environmental regulations during coronavirus is short-sighted
(The Conversation) Both the United States and Brazil have lifted limits on pollution, carbon emissions and forestry, and made it easier to approve pipelines. Governments in Canada have also used the COVID-19 crisis to curb environmental protections for communities and ecosystems.
But these changes can come with large risks. Although they may only last a few months, the environmental impact may be much longer. Short-term environmental damage can have long-term effects.
There are situations, of course, where the rules need to change to decrease the spread of the coronavirus, such as when work requires travel to remote and vulnerable communities. But many of the changes made to environmental regulations have removed the requirements for environmental monitoring altogether or reduced or eliminated environmental observers, which means no data will be collected.
For example, Alberta suspended reporting requirements under several environmental acts, except for drinking water facilities. Later changes by the Alberta Energy Regulator removed many monitoring requirements for oil companies, including monitoring surface water, ground water and wildlife in tailings ponds. The changes were requested by the oil industry so that companies could follow public health orders, but were passed without public consultation or reasons why the changes were needed for public health reasons. Given that spills can happen quickly, even small gaps in the data during a public health crisis may affect future decisions such as changing pollution limits or approving new projects. Monitoring was also temporarily put on hold in fisheries. The at-sea observers who monitor what is being caught and discarded were suspended in Canada for 45 days. Without observers, it is much harder to know how sustainable a fishery is, and a monitoring gap could put endangered species at greater risk.
Some of the changes that have occurred in Canada since the start of the coronavirus pandemic have removed public participation in decision-making processes. For example, Ontario removed the requirements for consultation on environmental issues during the current state of emergency. Normally, projects that affect the environment have a 30-day consultation period

12 May
Flawed environmental assessment of offshore drilling in Newfoundland and Labrador puts marine ecosystems at risk
(WWF) Environmental groups are taking legal action against the federal government for failing to properly assess the impacts of exploratory drilling for oil and gas in Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore waters. It is the first Regional Assessment (RA) to be conducted under the new Impact Assessment Act.
The application, filed by Ecojustice lawyers on behalf of Ecology Action Centre, Sierra Club Canada Foundation and WWF-Canada, alleges that the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada relied on a deficient assessment report to accelerate exploratory drilling in the region. The organizations aim to prevent the government from exempting similar activity from future impact assessments and setting a dangerous precedent for future RAs in the country.

18 April
As Earth Day Approaches, Climate Change and the Environment Cracks Top 5 Most-Concerning Issues in Canada
(Ipsos) Canada Over-Indexes on Concern about Climate Change and Waste Production; Under-Indexes on Air Pollution