Climate News

David Thurton

What does suspending Alberta’s clean electricity regulations mean for Canada’s climate goals?

Environment minister suggests equivalency agreement with Alberta is in the works. Ottawa’s clean electricity regulations' days are numbered in Alberta, after Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed their memorandum of understanding last week. The federal government suspended the regulations meant to rein in Canada’s worst polluter, but it hasn’t explained how it is going to ensure...

Gerald Butts, Peter Nicholson, Rick Smith

New data shows the world is embracing renewable energy. Canada can’t follow Trump’s fossil fuel obsession

Gerald Butts is vice-chairman of Eurasia Group. Peter Nicholson and Rick Smith are chair of the board and president of the Canadian Climate Institute. The rest of the world is ramping up its transition to cleaner, more efficient, electric technologies, while the Trump administration is leading the United States down a dead-end street. That’s one rather glaring conclusion from the...

Julio Mejía, Elmira Aliakbari

Here’s how Carney could help lower emissions and spur economic growth

Sarah Farahdel

Canada’s clean-tech race is on — and private investment can’t wait

Canada is on the cusp of a clean-energy revolution. Policy alone won’t get it there — private capital, innovation and Indigenous partnerships must move now or watch others claim the future. Global investment in clean energy surpassed US$2.1 trillion in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Yet Canada’s private investment per capita still lags behind OECD peers like...

Brent Dancey, Rick Smith

Modernizing Canada’s ports: an economic and an environmental opportunity

Peter Zimonjic

Green banking alliance Carney helped create pauses activities, holds vote on its future

Several members, including Canada's major banks, left group after Trump's re-election. An international green banking alliance that Prime Minister Mark Carney helped establish is now suspending its activities and holding a vote to determine its future. The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) is the industry-led banking element of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) that was created when Carney...

Gillian Steward

Mark Carney seems to have given up on his climate change agenda

We don’t often get a look at a potential prime minister’s detailed policy proposals. But in 2021 Mark Carney published a book that laid it all out for us. ”Values: Building a Better World for All,” states in no uncertain, and often very complicated, terms what we must do to build a better world. But one of the key themes...

David Thurton, Kristen Everson

Where does Carney stand on Canada's 2030 climate targets? It's not clear

Should Canada come clean and admit it won’t meet its climate goals? Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing mounting pressure to act on climate change amid another near-record-shattering wildfire season and scorching hot summer. But five months after taking Canada's top political job, it's unclear whether he will pursue his Liberal predecessor's deep emissions cuts.

Joanna Kyriazis, Trevor Melanson

EVs have become a litmus test for whether we’re still America’s buddy — or ready to be a global Canada

There are few Canadian markets more integrated with the U.S. than vehicles. And not just the cars we build in Ontario, but the ones we drive across this country. We rely on U.S. safety standards that effectively determine which cars end up on dealership lots, align our tailpipe emission standards and when the U.S. under Biden erected a 100 per...

Eddie Sheppard, David Coletto

Public concerns about climate up 15-points since October 2024

Between June 26 and July 2, 2025 (before the Texas floods), Abacus Data surveyed 1,500 Canadian adults to better understand perceptions of climate change. This article looks at how recent extreme weather is raising public concern, even as most Canadians remain focused on everyday issues like affordability and the economy. We explore the public’s call for balance between climate action...

Jenna Benchetrit,

Canadian wildfire smoke ruining Americans' summer, says letter from Congress members

Letter signed by 6 House representatives from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Canadian wildfire smoke is travelling south and making it difficult for some Americans to enjoy their summer, according to a letter from six members of Congress to Canada's U.S. ambassador. "We write to you today on behalf of our constituents who have had to deal with suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke...

Canada's environment ministers endorse updated air quality standards

Canada's environment ministers have endorsed stronger air quality standards for fine particulate matter, while acknowledging the struggles caused by wildfires that can blanket the country in smoke advisories. Provincial, territorial and federal environment ministers met in Yellowknife for the annual meeting of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

Matt DeCourcey

To build a nation, build with nature in mind

When we talk about the “national interest,” we tend to picture steel, not soil. Transmission towers, deep ports and export corridors are emblematic of a nation on the move. It’s understandable. Big projects have always held weight in this country: the railway, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Trans-Canada Highway. Now, with the passage of Bill C-5 – the One Canadian...

Carole Saab, Rick Smith

Climate disaster preparation is central to Canada’s economic security

Wildfires are once again devastating vast areas of our country – from the Prairies to British Columbia and into Northern Ontario. Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate. Children are being transported to safety. Smoke is choking towns and cities hundreds of kilometres away. Local leaders are working around the clock, co-ordinating shelters, mobilizing emergency services and holding their...

Marsha Lederman

We need to cool it: In our warming world, we deserve temperature safety

Adrienne Tanner

If oil giants are reluctant to invest in carbon capture, why should taxpayers?

When Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the feds would be interested in pipeline projects for “decarbonized oil,” the folks at the Pathways Alliance must have felt their hearts skip a beat. The oilsands consortium took it as a sign that the federal government might embrace a pitch by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to approve a new pipeline to the...

Heather Exner-Pirot

High costs, low returns - Canada’s wildly expensive emissions cap

Canada is the world’s third-largest exporter of oil, fourth-largest producer, and top source of imports to the United States. Much of Canada’s oil wealth is concentrated in the oil sands in northern Alberta, which hosts 99 percent of the country’s enormous oil endowment: about 160 billion barrels of proven reserves, of a total resource of approximately 1.8 trillion barrels. This...

Nick Murray

One in four Canadians report being affected by extreme weather in last year: poll

Almost one in four Canadians were directly affected by extreme weather events over the past year, a new poll suggests. The Leger poll -- released as Canada copes with its second-worst wildfire season on record -- says 23 per cent of Canadians who responded said they were personally affected by extreme weather events like heat waves, floods, fires and tornadoes...

Environment minister says consumer rebates for EVs will return

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin tells The Canadian Press the government will bring back a consumer rebate program to help make electric vehicles more affordable. The federal government's former rebate program for electric vehicles, launched in 2019, was so popular it ran out of funding, leading Ottawa to pause it earlier this year.

Linda McQuaig

As climate induced hell-fires rage across the country, Canada looks to build pipelines — in the name of national unity

The country is literally on fire. So we better get to work building more pipelines, thereby enabling us to pump even more oil out of the ground and have even bigger, hotter, wilder, more out-of-control fires. This seems to be the main takeaway from the new détente reached between Ottawa and the provinces in the name of fighting the threat...

Martin Bush

Net-zero advisory body needs to sharpen its analysis

Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body has a critically important and difficult mandate. It sets out Canada’s path to net zero emissions with advice to the minister of Environment and Climate Change through annual reports. It has made good progress, but its second annual report is concerning. These annual reports will strongly shape strategy to substantially reduce greenhouse gas by 2030 and...

Adrienne Tanner

Skimping on environmental protections endangers us all

In the rush to grow Canada’s economy by exploiting more of our natural resources, moves are afoot to pare back environmental impact assessments that slow or sometimes even block resource and industrial development. During the election campaign, the now-ruling Liberals promised to cut the decision time on projects from five years to a maximum of two. Similarly, BC is about...

Kate Lindsay, Étienne Bélanger, Darren Sleep

Sustaining Canada’s forests: a model for responsible management

By harvesting responsibly and regenerating diligently, we ensure that future generations will inherit a greener planet.

Lisa McLaughlin

Roots of tomorrow: Canada's forests need our support

Carl Meyer, Matt Simmons

The feds raised doubts about a climate scientist’s LNG research. He says they sounded like fossil fuel lobbyists

Which is worse for the climate — coal or LNG? After a study found LNG is worse than coal, internal docs show the Government of Canada pushed back

Robson Fletcher, Joel Dryden

Alberta pioneered industrial carbon pricing. Now, Poilievre says he'd kill the federal mandate for it

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith welcomed a promise from the Conservative Party of Canada on Monday to eliminate the federal backstop on industrial carbon pricing, if it were to form the next federal government. Although it appears unlikely the province would abandon its longstanding pricing system altogether. "We fully support Pierre Poilievre's commitment to return jurisdictional authority back to the provinces...

Sonya Savage, Heather Exner-Pirot

Canada’s greenwashing amendment: A failure of process and policy

On April 30, 2024, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance pushed through a late-stage amendment to the Competition Act under Bill C-59: The 2023 Fall Economic Statement. The “greenwashing amendment,” as it has come to be known, has had a dramatic silencing effect on the many businesses and associations across the country that want to communicate their environmental...

Ryan Ness, Don Iveson, Lisa Raitt

Location, location, location: building much-needed homes on safer ground could save Canada billions of dollars

Bruce Campbell

The impact of Donald Trump’s anti-climate measures on our heating planet

Before assessing the impact of United States President Donald Trump’s climate and energy policies, some context about the current state of the planet is in order. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres recently called the world’s fossil fuel addiction “a Frankenstein’s monster sparing nothing and no one.”

Anand Ram

Ahead of Trump presidency, U.S. banks abandon Mark Carney climate initiative

"Right here, right now, is where finance draws the line," proclaimed Mark Carney, the UN special envoy for climate action, in 2021, on stage at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. More than 160 financial institutions signed onto a kind of climate finance super-group known as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). At the time, Carney —...

Trevor Tombe, Jennifer Winter

Does Emissions Pricing Hurt Affordability? Quantifying the Effects on Canadian Households

This report investigates the effects of emissions pricing, such as the federal fuel charge or B.C. carbon tax. It focuses on how these policies impact households differently based on their income levels, regions and family types. The analysis is set against the backdrop of rising inflation, particularly between June 2021 and June 2022, when consumer prices rose sharply. One of...

Jordan Omstead

Canada says it wants to slash its emissions by half by 2035. Will that be enough?

Canada is aiming to cut its emissions in half by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, a newly released target range that is lower than what a federal advisory body recommended. Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault says a target of reducing emissions by 45 to 50 per cent balances both ambition and achievability. He says the target's lower end...

Mike De Souza

16 oilsands companies allegedly broke environmental rules. Alberta kept it a secret for three years

At least 16 fossil fuel companies operating in Canada’s oilsands allegedly broke rules requiring them to pay for environmental monitoring by independent scientists, according to newly released data from the Alberta government.

Bruce Campbell

COP29 was a missed opportunity in escalating climate crisis

The COP29 Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, wrapped up last weekend. COP or Conference of the Parties, brings together countries which have ratified the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) the parent treaty to the 2015 Paris agreement It comes at a time when our planet is experiencing record temperatures, floods, droughts, disappearing forests, collapsing ice sheets...

John Woodside

COP29 presidency slammed as ‘deplorable’ in the homestretch of finance negotiations

As the annual climate change negotiations enter their final days with countries still deeply divided over key issues, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault blamed host country Azerbaijan for the disappointing options on the table. “The lack of ambition from the presidency so far is deplorable,” Guilbeault told Canada’s National Observer Thursday evening. With over 90 per cent of...

David McLaughlin

A made-at-home climate plan for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives

The Conservative Party of Canada’s pre-election slogan is “Bring it Home.” This saying is dictionary-defined as making important things clear, understandable, and real with your solution. After a quarter-century of failed climate plans unable to meet targets, climate change policy in Canada could stand for a similar level of ” clarity, reality, and honesty from Conservatives. How? Through a “Made-at-Home”...

Chi-ming Peng

Taiwan’s commitment to climate action

Climate Impact Auctions: Increasing the Effectiveness of Global Climate Finance

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) represent around 72 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, and the proportion is growing. Without action to stem the growth of emissions in those countries, the shared goal of keeping global average temperature increases to well below two degrees above pre-industrial levels will not be achieved. At the same time, high-income countries — including Canada...

Jordan Omstead

COP29 primer: Canada's priorities at the global climate talks, and the Trump impact

Canada could be an important consensus builder at this year's international climate negotiations, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said, while downplaying concerns that Donald Trump's presidential election victory could hamper the talks.

David Thurton

China, Saudi Arabia should pay up to help the planet cope with climate change: Guilbeault

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Wednesday he wants China and Saudi Arabia to contribute money to international efforts to help poorer countries struggling with the worst effects of climate change. Guilbeault will be heading to the annual United Nations climate summit, COP29, in Azerbaijan next week. There, countries are expected to negotiate a new international target to collect the trillions...

Carl Meyer

5 takeaways from Canada’s draft rules for an oil and gas emissions cap

Canadian government ministers introduced new details of their oil and gas emissions cap plan on Monday. If the federal draft rules are finalized as expected next year, they would represent the first time Ottawa has imposed binding obligations on the sector to slow its rising carbon emissions.

Karen Bartko

‘I’m pissed’: Alberta premier, oil and gas industry slam Ottawa’s new emissions cap

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith did not mince words over Ottawa’s new greenhouse gas emissions cap announced Monday. “I’m pissed — I’m absolutely angry,” Smith said at a news conference. “We’ve been working with these guys for two years because we have a plan that would reduce emissions responsibly by 2050 and they continue to act like they are working collaboratively...

Sharon J. Riley, Carl Meyer

Pathways Alliance’s oilsands carbon capture project won’t undergo Alberta environmental assessment

The massive $16-billion carbon capture plan proposed by Pathways Alliance — a group of the largest oilsands companies — will not undergo a provincial environmental assessment, according to a letter from the Alberta Energy Regulator dated Oct. 25 and provided to The Narwhal. Pathways filed its first regulatory application for the project, which will include a 400-kilometre carbon dioxide pipeline...