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...
By harvesting responsibly and regenerating diligently, we ensure that future generations will inherit a greener planet.
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
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...
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...
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.”
"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 —...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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”...
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...
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.
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...
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.
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...
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...
Two years ago, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised a “plain language law” for government laws and policies if he becomes prime minister. He wants bureaucrats and politicians to communicate simply and clearly to Canadians.
Canada is poised for a transformative shift in its energy landscape. With the passage of Bill C-49—officially titled “An Act to amend the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts”—the federal government has signalled a commitment to developing offshore wind, particularly on...
Anita Anand says Canada will “exceed” its target to slash planet-warming pollution from tens of thousands of its own buildings and vehicles by next year.
In what some have called a game-changing decision, an Ontario court has ruled that the provincial government's weakened climate target could violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ecojustice, Canada's largest environmental law charity, says the decision marks the first time that Ontario's highest court has ruled that a government's climate actions are subject to the Charter. Ecojustice backed the...
Burning fossil fuels is costing Canadians, not only by exacerbating climate change for their kids and grandkids, but also by increasing direct, out-of-pocket expenses now. This is the conclusion of a new study published by Clean Energy Canada on Wednesday that quantifies just how much cheaper life is for Canadians who switch to non-combusting technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs)...
Can Conservative thinkers convince Pierre Poilievre to take climate change seriously? That’s the question that centre-right website The Hub, with some financial support from the pro-carbon pricing advocacy group Clean Prosperity, is trying to answer. In the process, they’re raising some questions about their own approach to the issue.
It was a summer of weather-related losses in Canada. And it’s clear that we need to better prepare for inevitable record-breaking seasons of catastrophic fires and floods in the future.
Five eminent CBC alumni are urging the public broadcaster to deepen its coverage of the climate crisis in the face of an escalating “civilizational threat.” “As journalists, members of the CBC family and as Canadians concerned about our future, we ask that the CBC treat the climate breakdown as the existential crisis and civilizational threat that it is,” reads a...
From September 19 to 25, 2024, Abacus Data conducted a national survey of 1,701 Canadian adults (18+) to examine their perspectives on climate change and their priorities in the context of pressing immediate challenges, such as the cost of living and housing affordability. Results reveal a significant focus on short-term relief, with many Canadians prioritizing immediate socioeconomic issues over long-term...
The CEO of one of the country’s largest oil and gas companies says Canada doesn’t need to cap pollution from its oilpatch. “We’ve been pretty clear that we don’t need a cap,” Cenovus president and CEO Jon McKenzie told The Narwhal on Sept. 24. “We see this as something that further divides provinces, the federal government and industry, and is...
A panel of experts advising the federal government on climate policy says Canada should at minimum cut its carbon emissions in half by 2035. The Net Zero Advisory Body is calling on the government to amp up its ambitions and slash climate-cooking emissions by up to 55 per cent below 2005 levels by 2035.
Canada’s national carbon emissions have recorded their first post-pandemic drop, according to an early estimate of 2023 emissions put out by the Canadian Climate Institute. While greenhouse gas emissions have been trending slightly downward since the 2005 base year — and are now eight per cent lower — much of that drop occurred when the economy shut down for months...
In 2018, the newly elected Ontario government passed one of its first pieces of legislation – to repeal the Green Energy Act (GEA). Modelled on German legislation to promote wind and solar generation, the 2009 GEA initiated the largest use of guaranteed above-market price long-term contracts (FITs) in North America.
For anyone who spent their childhood riding stinky, noisy school buses, it's a revelation to climb aboard one of the electric models coming off the assembly line at Lion Electric in Saint-Jérôme, Que., northwest of Montreal. "The only thing you hear is the wheels on the road," said founder and CEO Marc Bédard. Proponents believe kids who ride e-buses show...
It was once the driver of Canada’s nascent clean-technology industry, supported by Liberal and Conservatives alike. Publicly funded but arms-length from government bureaucracy since 2001, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) was a lifeline to entrepreneurs desperate to find money for their clean-tech innovations.
Unless policies or technologies change, the cost of electric vehicles (EVs) needs to decrease by 31 per cent if Canada to wants to reach its sales target of 60 per cent EVs by 2030, according to a new report released Thursday by Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux.
In the coming year, Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) – a consortium of nuclear energy and waste producers – will choose the site for its deep geological repository: a final resting home for the spent nuclear fuel Canada has produced since the 1950s and will continue to produce in the future.
The association representing Canada’s power utilities is stepping up its criticism of the federal government’s proposed Clean Electricity Regulations, as Ottawa prepares to release a final version of the new rules by the end of the year.
Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent across the globe, including in Canada. From August 16 to 18, 2024, we surveyed Canadians about their perceptions of climate change, its causes, and desired future actions to fight it.
After multiple water main breaks and floods across the country this summer, municipalities and experts are warning that urban flooding could become more common as Canada's infrastructure ages. "We have good infrastructure in Canada. The challenge is it's aging and we're not keeping up," John Gamble, president of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Canada, told CBC News.
As another Canadian summer brings another round of natural disasters — wildfires in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland, flooding in Toronto and Quebec — there is a risk of the political responses to these calamities becoming rote. Thoughts and prayers are offered. An official response is mounted. Support for reconstruction is promised. And then the political discussion moves on.
