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LATEST NEWS ON THIS TOPIC

Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska
Bailing on an election promise to never again allow drilling on federal lands, United States President Joe Biden has approved a US$8-billion plan to extract 600 million barrels of oil from an ecologically sensitive region in Alaska.

UN Buys Tanker, But Funding Gap Could Scuttle Plan to Salvage Oil from ‘Floating Time Bomb’
United Nations officials declared partial victory Thursday in a multi-year effort to avert a US$20-billion humanitarian and environmental catastrophe along the Red Sea coast, but warned their mission may still unravel if they can’t raise another $34 million to fully fund the work.

First Nation Scorches Imperial Oil, Alberta Regulator Over Toxic Leak
Informed nine months after the fact that its hunting territories may have been poisoned by a leaking oil sands tailings pond, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is accusing the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and ExxonMobil subsidiary Imperial Oil of environmental racism, as experts urge Ottawa to close regulatory holes that fossil companies can exploit.

UPDATE: Landmark Oceans Treaty May Stumble on U.S. Senate Adoption
Just days after more than 190 countries agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas—nearly half the planet’s surface—the deal is running into the harsh reality of what it takes to get any major decision out of the United States Senate.

Spy Agency Predicts ‘Profound Threat’ as Climate Impacts Accelerate Conflict
Climate change poses a profound, ongoing threat to Canada’s national security and prosperity, including the possible loss of parts of British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces to rising sea levels, the country’s spy agency warns.

Ohio Train Derailment, Toxic Chemical Spill Renews Fears Over Canada-U.S. Rail Safety
Locals remain desperate for answers almost a month after a train laden with harmful petrochemicals derailed in a small Ohio town, as government agencies refuse to test for some dangerous toxins, the railroad company shells out paltry restitution, and politicians steal the moment for publicity.

Mounting Losses, Legal Risk Prompt Insurers to Abandon Fossil Fuels
It took Munich Re almost 50 years since, but the world’s largest reinsurance company is taking steps to detach itself not just from coal, oil, and gas. The company announced in October that it will no longer insure new oil and gas projects as of April, 2023.

Missed Deadline Raises Fears for UN Loss and Damage Fund
Negotiations aimed at solidifying a plan for loss and damage funding ahead of this year’s COP 28 climate summit have already fallen behind schedule, with a lag in nominating committee members raising fears that vital climate recovery dollars for the world’s most vulnerable countries will be delayed.

Aggressive Net-Zero Plan Puts PEI at ‘Centre of Energy Transition Universe’
A clever series of presentation slides at a conference in Ottawa last week placed small communities at the centre of the energy transition and spotlighted Prince Edward Island as Canada’s next source of breakaway climate leadership.

U.S. Can Shift to EV’s Without Widespread, Destructive Mining, Report Finds
A new report chalks out pathways for the United States to heavily reduce the amount of mined lithium it needs to decarbonize transportation and sidestep “irreversible harms” to water, air, and animal habitats—especially near Indigenous lands.

February Brings Record Cold, Widespread Power Outages to Much of North America
Swaths of North America are slowly emerging from a bone-chilling first week of February, after a fierce ice storm left 10 people dead and hundreds of thousands without power in some South Central states, and an Arctic blast set a new national wind chill record of -77°C in the Northeast.

Lithium Mine Divides Nemaska Cree Over Impacts, Benefits
Type the word “Nemaska” into a search engine and most results refer to Nemaska Lithium, the company that sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 before being partly bought out by the Quebec government’s investment agency. But Nemaska is above all a Cree community in the heart of the boreal forest that shares its territory with a wide variety of species.

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty
Ten years after Ecuador abandoned efforts to get the international community to pay it not to drill for oil in a corner of Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, the cash-strapped country’s decision to double down on fossil exploration is signalling the need for a global fossil fuel non-proliferation agreement.

Rainforest Carbon Credits from World’s Biggest Provider are ‘Largely Worthless’, Investigation Finds
Revelations that almost 95% of the “avoided deforestation” carbon credits issued by the world’s largest certifier have zero climate mitigation value, have sparked calls for rigour, transparency, and accountability in the carbon credit process.

World Bank Climate Reforms Too ‘Timid and Slow,’ Critics Warn
Pressure from several countries has pushed the World Bank to put the climate crisis in sharper focus and reshuffle its leadership just weeks after drafting an “evolution roadmap” to reform operations. But critics say its proposals are “mostly a disappointing mix of navel gazing and finger pointing,” with urgently due financing flowing far too slowly.

Extreme Warming Ahead Even as Worst-Case Scenarios Grow ‘Obsolete’
Early 2023 has been a rollercoaster ride for climate watchers: from relief that worst-case climate scenarios are no longer conceivable, to apocalyptic warnings that we could be headed for at least 7°C of warming, to hope that “super-tipping points” of climate action will soon galvanize rapid decarbonization, and concern that El Niño will return with unprecedented heat waves this year.

Bogus Carbon Offsets, A Curious Seal, and £2,150 Per Household in Climate and Energy Costs
A nine-month news investigation by The Guardian, Die Zeit, and SourceMaterial, a non-profit investigative journalism organization, revealed that more than 90% of forest carbon offsets from the world’s leading provider are bogus. Indigenous and locally-controlled lands in the Amazon were storing carbon, while the rest of the rainforest was emitting greenhouse gases. Brazil’s new government confronted the “scorched earth” left behind by the Bolsonaro regime and launched its first raids against illegal tree-cutters.

Gas Stoves Enter U.S. Climate Culture War, Become ‘Bellwether’ for Industry
The protracted culture war over environmental policy in the United States was rekindled earlier this month by a controversy over gas stoves, with Republicans declaring that their beloved cooking appliances would have to be pried from their “cold dead hands”—though nobody was coming for them.

Traffic and Transit, U.S. Gas Bans, Rooftop Windmills, Radioactive Wastewater, and a March 23 Day of Action on Banking and Oil
The U.S. set out to widen more highways, even though traffic planners know it never reduces congestion. Parking lots were falling out of favour, major U.S. subway systems were falling apart, Toronto’s transit plan was falling far short, Toronto’s parking authority fell for the idea of an EV charging network, and urban transit advocates wanted a federal strategy for zero-emission transit, intercity coaches, and rail.

Flooding Strands Communities, Hits Western Australia Supermarket Shelves
As “once in a century” flooding in northwestern Australia overruns roads—straining food supply chains and isolating communities—experts and industry groups say the country’s freight transport networks must be made more climate resilient.

Suncor Safety Violations, the Language of Just Transition, and California Faces Devastating Rainstorms
Suncor Energy and a subcontractor faced 28 charges for safety violations after a bulldozer crashed through thin ice on a frozen tailings pond in January, 2021, killing 25-year-old operator Patrick Poitras. “Someone didn’t do their job and I lost my son because of that,” his dad told CBC. “My son gave his life for that job.”

Scientists Debate Role of Warming Arctic in Winter Deep Freezes
The millions of North Americans who found themselves shivering through late December’s bitter cold snap can surely thank a meandering polar vortex, but whether and how a rapidly warming Arctic might be involved in these intensifying deep freezes remains a subject of fierce scientific debate.

Majority Black Community Fights LNG Export Terminal in Its Back Yard
Just as a majority Black community in Florida’s Gulf County has begun to envision a “safe, vibrant, and healthy” comeback from the polluted shadow of heavy industry, local officials risk thwarting those ambitions by saying yes to a waterfront gas terminal.

Canadian Pension Funds Back Renewables, RCMP Spends $50M Policing Protests, Gas Stoves Linked to Childhood Asthma, and a Rogue Geoengineering Experiment Gets Under Way
Two of Canada’s biggest pension funds opened the year with new investments in offshore wind and overseas renewable energy projects, after a year of taking sustained criticism for their continuing commitment to fossil fuels. A leading sustainability consultancy profiled Canada’s clean energy powerhouses, Calgary-based ATCO Ltd. bought $713 million worth of solar and wind projects from oilsands operator Suncor Energy, and bids opened for onshore wind projects across nearly 1.7 million hectares of government-owned land in Newfoundland and Labrador.

New Policies, Political Shifts Produced Climate ‘Inflection Point’ in 2022
After nearly half a century of delaying the shift off fossil fuels, and “with the climate crisis breaching our front door,” 2022 may have been the moment when humanity finally turned a corner on emission reductions, says U.S. climate analyst Dr. Leah Stokes.

THE RUNDOWN: U.S. Narrowly Averts Massive Blackout, USPS to Buy 66,000 Electric Delivery Vans, and Twitter Lights Up for Brazil’s New Cabinet
At least 91 people died and the eastern United States narrowly averted a massive blackout after a “bomb cyclone” hit much of the continental United States December 21-26. Facing renewed attention to the vulnerability of the Texas power grid, Governor Greg Abbott demanded a probe of fossil gas supplier Atmos Energy, just months after promising the state was ready to withstand the next round of winter storms. A Ford F-150 Lightning still had two-thirds of its battery capacity available after powering its owner through a two-day power outage in southern Ontario, and California utility PG&E distributed home batteries to help some of its customers get through summer blackouts.

BREAKING: COP 15 Seals the Deal on ‘Paris Moment’ for Nature
Countries attending the COP 15 summit in Montreal have adopted a 2030 deadline to protect 30% of the world’s lands, oceans, coasts, and inland waters, cut subsidies that harm nature by US$500 billion, reduce the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance to near zero, and cut food waste in half, in what some participants and observers have been calling a “Paris moment” for nature.

Time to ‘Hack the COP’ for Faster Solutions, Canadian Delegate Says
A municipal climate leader from Halifax came away from this year’s United Nations climate summit, COP 27, with a stronger network of contacts, a wider view of the climate challenges cities face, and a sense that it’s time to “hack the COP” so that participants get more out of the two weeks onsite.

60+ Developing Countries Walk Out of COP 15 Over Funding Gaps
Representatives from developing countries have walked out the global biodiversity and nature summit, COP 15, over concerns that talks about how those efforts should be funded are lagging behind those on how much land and water should be set aside.

‘Shockwave’: HSBC Refuses New Oil and Gas Field Investments, But Not in Canada
The world’s eighth-largest bank and Europe’s current biggest funder of fossil fuel expansion, HSBC Holdings, has announced it will no longer invest in new oil and gas fields. But its Canadian branch is exempt from the new policy.

Falling Oil Demand Means Canadian Fossils Must Decarbonize: Pembina
A peak in global oil demand before 2030, with steady declines afterwards, will make it essential for federal and provincial governments to press the fossil industry for faster decarbonization, the Pembina Institute concludes in a new analysis.

Biggest Spill in Keystone’s History Dumps Oil into Kansas Creek
A ruptured pipe dumped enough oil late last week into a northeastern Kansas creek to nearly fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, becoming the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in nine years and surpassing all the previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to U.S. government data.

Faster Push for Critical Minerals Threatens Environment, Indigenous Rights
A mining watchdog says calls for less robust assessments and quicker permitting in Canada’s new critical minerals strategy will undo protections for environmental and Indigenous rights, which are being threatened across the globe in the rush for critical minerals.

Land Restoration Efforts Fall Far Short of Global Target, Report Shows
While the global biodiversity crisis deepens and the COP 15 summit in Montreal enters a final week of high-stakes negotiations, a report this morning points to a yawning gap between the degraded landscapes set aside for restoration and countries’ “aspirational goal” to restore a billion hectares—an area the size of China—by the end of this decade.

Renewables Advocate Wins Hotly Contested Seat on Louisiana Regulatory Panel
Newcomer Davante Lewis, a Democrat backed by an environmental political action committee, easily won Saturday’s runoff for a seat on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission, an obscure regulatory body that has received national attention from media, celebrities, climate activists, and major public utility companies.

Renewables to Deliver 90% of New Electricity, Become Biggest Source by 2025, IEA Says
Key countries around the world are set to add as much new renewable energy capacity over the next five years as they did over the last 20, as governments look for affordable supplies that can address the overwhelming energy security issues raised by Russia’s war in Ukraine, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its Renewables 2022 report released Tuesday.

Guterres Decries ‘Orgy of Destruction’ as COP 15 Nature Summit Opens in Montreal
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged global consensus on conserving 30% of Earth’s land and waters by 2030 as the United Nations biodiversity conference, COP 15, opened in Montreal, presenting Canada as nature’s champion—despite its sizeable oil and gas investments.

Boost Farm Bill Funds for Climate Solutions, U.S. Advocates Urge Lawmakers
Farmers in the United States need more tools and support to be part of the climate solution, say advocates, urging lawmakers gearing up to draft the new 2023 Farm Bill to increase funding for a rural renewables and energy efficiency.

Shooting Attack on North Carolina Grid Leaves Thousands Without Power
A weekend shooting attack on two electric substations in Moore County, North Carolina, is raising questions about grid security in the United States, after 40,000 people—including seniors and people in need of medical care—lost power amid freezing winter temperatures.

Fuel Disruptions, Price Surge Produce Energy Efficiency ‘Turning Point’: IEA
Russia’s war in Ukraine was the catalyst for a surge in global energy efficiency investments this year, as governments and consumers “turned to efficiency measures as part of their responses to fuel supply disruptions and record-high energy prices,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its Energy Efficiency 2022 report released Friday.

Solar Microgrids, Canadian Pylons Pitched as Solutions for War-Wrecked Ukraine
Microgrid and electricity system infrastructure providers are stepping up to support civilians left powerless in the dark and cold, after Russia spent weeks blitzing Ukraine’s grid to demoralize the population and force surrender.

Reject Fossil Development, Honour Climate Commitments, B.C. Groups Urge Eby
As liquefied natural gas (LNG) interests press for political support, British Columbia Premier David Eby must double down on his acknowledgement that any further fossil buildout will sink the province’s climate goals, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs says, in an op ed co-published with other leading climate advocates.

Ending the War on Nature Delivers Prosperity, Economic Justice: Torrie
This year’s devastating floods in Pakistan are one front in our clash with the planetary boundaries that define the rules for everything we do, but the war with nature will come to your doorstep soon, writes Corporate Knights Research Director Ralph Torrie.

Ontario New Housing Act Slammed for Promoting Sprawl, Weakening Protections
As Ontario’s newly-minted More Homes Built Faster Act is decried by Indigenous leaders, municipalities, farmers, and health experts alike, elected officials are questioning the “suspicious” link between developer titans buying parcels of protected Greenbelt land and Premier Doug Ford’s push to turn them into housing subdivisions.

Heat Pumps Primed for Take-Off, Could Cut 500M Tonnes of Carbon by 2030
Countries could cut carbon dioxide emissions by 500 million tonnes by 2030—the amount produced by all the cars in Europe today—by adopting heat pump technology that already supplies 10% of the world’s space heating and is poised for faster growth, the International Energy Agency concludes in a report released this week.

Countries Seek to Pay Down Billions in Debt with Conservation Swaps
Successful debt-for-nature swaps in the Seychelles, Belize, and Barbados have revived interest in a financing model that offers a three-way win: for debt-burdened countries seeking relief, investors chasing net-zero goals, and for the Earth’s declining biodiversity, which must be preserved to meet climate targets.

‘Incredibly Dangerous’: U.S. Coal Plants Ignore Disposal Rules for Toxic Coal Ash
More than nine out of 10 coal ash impoundments in the United States are contaminating groundwater in violation of federal rules, according to environmental groups’ comprehensive analysis of the latest industry-reported data.

Cities Take a Lead in Canada’s $1.6B Climate Adaptation Strategy
Cities are at the centre of Canada’s five-year, C$1.6-billion climate adaptation and resilience strategy, with Ottawa looking to local governments to deliver supports to Canadians increasingly facing the threat of wildfires, heat waves, and catastrophic storms and flooding.

Alberta Municipalities Push Back on Royalty Breaks for Oil Well Cleanups
Municipal politicians in Alberta are troubled by a proposed provincial program that would give oil and gas companies public dollars to clean up abandoned wells, saying the companies owe outstanding taxes and need to clean up after themselves anyway.

New Screening Tool Flags 27,000 U.S. Communities for Climate Investment
A new screening tool that prioritizes 27,000 disadvantaged U.S. communities for billions of dollars in federal climate and energy investments is being criticized for leaving out racial makeup—one of the strongest predictors of environmental burden—as a criterion.

China, Saudi Arabia Must Contribute on Loss and Damage: Guilbeault
All big emitters—including China and Saudi Arabia—must contribute to a new global fund to compensate developing countries for the losses and damages they incur from climate change, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said toward the end of the COP 27 climate summit in Egypt.

EU Aims to Boost Demand for Expensive, High-Emitting Fertilizers
The European Union is laying the groundwork to increase reliance on expensive, emissions-intensive fertilizers, a move that will hit hardest for developing countries looking for funds to deal with the impacts of climate change and reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate Leaders Urge Paris-Style Agreement for Biodiversity
The 2015 Paris agreement legally bound the world to keep global warming “well below” 2.0°C. Now its architects say nature needs a similar treaty, arguing that without urgent action to protect ecosystems, there will be no hope of accomplishing the Paris mission.

Brazil Will Crack Down on Illegal Logging, Finance Forest Protection, Lula Tells COP 27
Six weeks before taking power, Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday told cheering crowds at the UN climate conference, COP 27, that he would crack down on illegal deforestation in the Amazon, revive relationships with countries that finance forest protection efforts, and push to host an upcoming world climate summit in the rainforest.

Oil Effluent Endangers Red Sea ‘Super Coral’ that Could Protect Endangered Reefs
For decades, 40,000 litres per day of toxic effluent have been knowingly released from an oil terminal on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, endangering a super-hardy coral species that may contain the key to climate-proofing the rest of the world’s coral.

15 Big Agribusinesses Create Nearly as Much Methane as EU: Report
Fifteen of the world’s top food-producing companies have a methane footprint equal to 80% of the European Union’s emissions of the super-potent greenhouse gas, says a new report by the Changing Markets Foundation and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Put Energy Sovereignty, Gender Justice Ahead of ‘False Solutions’, Community Panel Urges
The COP 27 climate summit has been dominated by “false solutions” that ignore the needs of underrepresented people and shun vital principles like energy sovereignty, gender justice, and land rights, according to a panel of community experts on the front lines of the climate crisis.

Biden-Xi Meeting May ‘Unshackle’ Climate Discussions at COP 27
One of the most important moments in this year’s COP 27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, may have happened 9,550 kilometres away in Indonesia, when U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to restart formal climate cooperation during a side meeting at this year’s G20 summit in Bali.

Climate Action Still Disconnected from Developing Country Realities
A COP 27 panel discussion on accountability for climate action revealed an ongoing disconnect between developed and developing worlds, with the former urging faith in a complex-but-sincere process and the latter expressing significant mistrust and frustration.

Wildfire, Flood Projects in 112 Indigenous Communities Blocked by Federal Funding Backlog
The federal government still hasn’t provided First Nations with the support they need to respond to emergencies such as wildfires and floods despite warnings almost a decade ago, says a new report from Canada’s auditor general.

Unlock Municipal Green Finance in Global South, C-40 Cities Urges
Mainstreaming climate action into city financial systems, applying a climate budget to all decisions, and encouraging private sector investment in climate adaptation are strategies that all municipalities, regardless of their situation, can implement to unlock green financing, says C-40 Cities.

Africa’s ‘Fossil Fallacy’ Will Devastate Climate, Wreck Communities, Report Says
A new report busts the “fallacy” that boosting gas production in Africa will benefit the continent’s population. Instead, the so-called “dash for gas” will devastate the natural environment, leave local communities powerless, and wreak havoc on the climate, report authors say.

Include 2 Billion ‘Invisible’ Workers in Just Transition, Lawyer Urges
An invisible work force of people in the informal economy should receive the same support as fossil energy workers during a just transition to a green economy, says a lawyer with expertise in international environmental, trade and labour law and agreements.

Migrant Justice Groups Bring High Urgency, Low Expectations to COP 27
The climate crisis is expected to create the largest human displacement ever seen in modern history. As many as a billion could be displaced over the coming decades, as more and more people are forced to leave their homes and communities because of floods, droughts, extreme weather events, wildfires, conflict, and extreme heat.

Report Urges $2 Trillion/Year for Climate Finance as U.S. Touts Private Funding
With a new report warning that developing countries will need US$2 trillion per year by 2030 to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is taking fire for trying to put private finance at the centre of rich countries’ response.

‘Dash for Gas’ Takes Off at COP 27
With COP 27 host Egypt and 16 other natural gas-exporting governments pledging to plug the fossil energy source as “the perfect solution” to climate change and energy security, critics warned of a “dash for gas” in Africa—a prophecy taking shape this week in Sharm el-Sheikh, where some African countries said exploiting fossil reserves will help lift people out of poverty.

World Fossil Emissions 3x Higher than Industry Reports, Data Shows
An inventory of the world’s highest-emitting greenhouse gas sources reveals that oil and gas production emissions are being underreported by as much as three times, due to limited reporting requirements, underestimated methane leaks, and intentional flaring.

Climate Will Cost Canada $145B by 2100, But Fossil Emissions Still Rising
Even if all the world’s current climate commitments are met “in full and on time,” Canada will lose 5.8% of its GDP by 2100—$145 billion in today’s dollars—due to higher temperatures, increased precipitation, and changing weather patterns, finds a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

Rights Abuses, Intrusive Conference App Put Egypt Under Spotlight as COP 27 Host
With a pro-democracy blogger and activist reportedly being force-fed in prison, a relentless crackdown on protesters and undocumented workers, and a conference app raising serious concerns about unwarranted surveillance, Egypt is not getting the public relations bounce it was counting on as host of this year’s COP 27 climate change summit.

Competition Bureau to Probe Industry Greenwashing of ‘Clean’, ‘Natural’ Gas
Competition Bureau Canada has opened an investigation into allegations that the Canadian Gas Association is greenwashing fossil methane as clean, following a C$10-million complaint filed in September by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).

Coastal Homes Collapse, Hundreds Seek Shelter as Storm Nicole Hits Florida, Bermuda
Tropical Storm Nicole sent multiple homes in Florida toppling into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday and threatened a row of high-rise condominiums in places where Hurricane Ian washed away the beach and destroyed seawalls only weeks ago.

‘Disappointing’ National Climate Plans Insufficient to Avert Crisis
At last year’s United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, 193 governments promised to strengthen their national climate targets within one year. But only about two dozen of them have delivered on that promise, leaving civil society representatives wary of more empty promises and false solutions at the onset of COP 27.

Africa Loses 34% of GDP at 1.5° Warming, ‘Grim’ New Report Concludes
Countries across Africa could lose 14% of their per capita GDP to climate change by 2050 and 34% by 2100, even if average global warming is held to 1.5°C, according to a report released this morning at this year’s UN climate conference, COP 27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

COP Process is Busted but Not Irrelevant, Observers Say
This year’s COP 27 climate conference may prove UN negotiations on global heating dead for some. But for others, the annual, marathon negotiating summits are a crucial forum to exert soft power, keep checks on Big Oil, and remind corporate interests that the Amazon is much more than just a business opportunity.

Experience, Empathy Heighten Climate Concern
With extreme weather events increasing around the globe, concern about climate change is creeping up, but slowly. Canadians still maintain an emotional or psychological distance in their perceptions of the personal risk of harm posed by climate change, with some exceptions.

40 Countries to Reveal Methane Action Plans at COP 27
With 40 countries expected to unveil their methane reduction plans at COP 27, global action on the climate-busting greenhouse gas could get a boost after stalling out under industry pressure over the last year, even after more 100 countries signed on to the Global Methane Pledge at COP 26.

COP 27 a ‘Make or Break Moment’ for Loss and Damage Finance
As COP 27 opens in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, developing countries and climate justice leaders are urging a notoriously reluctant developed world to get serious about financing for loss and damage, with the immediate and long-term well-being of hundreds of millions hanging in the balance.

1.5°C ‘Barely Within Reach’ as COP 27 Opens, WMO Warns
A 1.5°C climate future is only “barely within reach,” the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned yesterday in an early draft of its latest State of the Global Climate report, issued as negotiations got under way at the COP 27 climate summit in Egypt.

COP 27: Can World Leaders Be Trusted to Deliver?
Leaders of major economies who handed polluting fossil fuels US$693 billion in financial support last year—the highest level since 2014—are among those entrusted with tackling global heating and delivering climate justice at the COP 27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Past UN Climate Agendas Hint at Priorities for COP 27
A look at past agendas for United Nations climate conferences sheds light on what is given priority at the annual summit and what gets left out, giving some predictive insight into how vulnerable nations’ push for loss and damage negotiations will fare during this year’s meetings in Egypt.

Small Farmers Need More Funding, Sustainable Practices to Avert Global Food Crisis
The world’s 350 million family farmers and smallhold producers are looking to this year’s United Nations climate summit, COP 27, to help avert a global food security crisis by funding climate adaptation and building “a food system that can feed the world on a hot planet”.

Big Banks Deliver the Dollars for Polluting Amazon Oil Project
In the Putumayo region of the Colombian Amazon, Segundo Meneses’ daily routine took him to the Chufiya river, its banks verdant and waters alive with catfish and piranha. On one morning seven years ago, he noticed a dark film lapping the shore. Where the river turned a bend, it turned to black. It was an oil slick that he says went on to sicken his young family and poison their cows and pigs.

Local Green Building Laws at Risk as Ontario Fast-Tracks New Housing Bill [Sign-On]
Municipal climate and energy leaders in Ontario are scrambling to protect energy-efficient building standards that may be at risk in the provincial government’s rush to push through its More Homes Built Faster Act, Bill 23.

Brazil’s Lula Faces Polarized Congress in Drive to Restore Amazon
Brazil’s newly-elected president has vowed to reverse the deforestation of the Amazon that occurred under his predecessor, but a hostile Congress is likely to block his efforts, as are the thousands of Brazilians who say the election was rigged and still others convinced that environmental protections equal lost livelihoods.

Louisiana Wetlands Case Could Open U.S. Fossils to Dozens of Lawsuits
U.S. federal judges have ordered a nine-year-old lawsuit calling on oil and gas companies to pay for damage to Louisiana’s wetlands to be returned to state court for trial, potentially clearing the way for at least 41 similar lawsuits to move forward.

‘DEMOCRACY WINS’: Lula Defeats Bolsonaro in Big Gain for Climate
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian politician known as Lula, scored a hard-fought victory in national elections Sunday, raising hopes for an end to runaway deforestation and violent repression of Indigenous communities in the four years since former army captain Jair Bolsonaro took office.

New Ontario Bill Set to Gut Land Conservation, Public Consultation
Those who have the most to lose under the Ontario Ford government’s proposed More Homes Built Faster Act—which, if passed, will effectively gut the province’s land conservation and public consultation policies—include neighborhoods and civil society organizations determined to have a say in how development proceeds, municipalities looking to implement sustainable design initiatives, and especially Ontario’s wetlands, early analysis shows.

Put Agroecology Ahead of ‘Green Grabs’, Think Tank Urges
In the lead-up to the COP 27 climate summit, a food systems think tank is calling for more discussion of “agroecology” and warning that corporations can exploit less well-defined terms to greenwash, while maintaining business-as-usual operations.

Indoor Farming Could Boost Food Security, Ease Supply Chains
Whether it was pandemic-driven supply chain delays, Russia’s war in Europe driving up grain prices, or flooding in British Columbia disrupting rail lines and highways, the past 2½ years have shone a light on how vulnerable Canada’s food system is to climate change and other global factors.

Fossil Decline Has Begun, But Time Running Out to Cut Emissions, Agencies Say
Oil and gas demand has levelled off, renewable energy costs are falling, and electric vehicles can dominate major markets by 2030, but countries will still need “unprecedented” emission reductions this decade to keep the worst of climate change under control, according to reports by three international agencies released yesterday and today.

Sunak to Restore UK Fracking Ban, Faces Long Climate To-Do List
Incoming British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will restore his country’s ban on oil and gas fracking, Reuters reported yesterday, after his predecessor Liz Truss reversed a moratorium originally set out in the UK Conservative Party’s 2019 election platform.

Loss and Damage, ‘Geopolitical Hurricane’ to Dominate at COP 27
Reparations for climate damage, international climate finance, and the geopolitical snarls caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine are taking their place as central issues as the clock winds down to the launch of this year’s United Nations climate summit, COP 27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Coastal GasLink Builders Sued for Millions in Unpaid Work
Coastal GasLink and a former prime contractor with alleged links to organized crime are being sued by four companies, working in partnership with three First Nations communities, for allegedly failing to pay an outstanding C$10 million for services rendered.

EXCLUSIVE: Rumoured Keystone Pipeline Sale Could Increase Spill Risk
Analyst chatter about TC Energy considering selling off the controversial Keystone pipeline could raise the risk of a major spill or leak, but still improve the Calgary-based pipeliner’s rating for environmental responsibility, The Energy Mix has learned.

Cities Must Slash Emissions 50% by 2030 for 1.5°C Pathway
Cities must halve their per capita emissions by 2030 to remain on a 1.5°C trajectory, finds a new report that prescribes low-emissions mass transit, better waste management, decarbonized grids, and energy-efficient buildings as the way forward.

Canada Will Support ‘Economically Feasible’ LNG, Freeland Says
Canada is open to supporting “economically feasible” liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects to help countries like Germany reduce reliance on coal in the midst of a global energy crunch, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told media Friday, at the close of annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC.

Research Shows Big Knowledge Gaps on Climate Solutions, Nature Loss
The federal government is busy consulting us now, gathering input from Canadians on policy proposals for a just transition to renewables, a carbon emissions cap for the oil and gas sector, a clean electricity grid, and more. But how well informed do Canadians think they are about these potential solutions?

World Bank Faces Scorching Criticism as Poor Countries Talk Reparations
The World Bank is facing calls for far-reaching climate finance reform and vulnerable countries are demanding climate reparations as the clock ticks down to the annual United Nations climate summit, COP 27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Thunberg Backs German Nuclear Plants as Russia’s War Raises Risk
Fridays for Future founder Greta Thunberg has come out in favour of Germany extending the life of its controversial nuclear plants, just days after a news analysis traced the decades-long history of nuclear facilities threatened by war or terrorism.

Elementary School’s Bike Bus Brings ‘Sheer Joy’ to Portland Neighbourhood
A weekly “bike bus” to school gives 170 elementary students, a 65-pound golden doodle named Phoebe, and the Portland, Oregon neighborhood through which they ride a jolt of “sheer joy,” while helping to build a stronger, safer, more connected community.

Fertilizer Lobby Disavows Convoy Backing, Maintains Opposition to 30% Emissions Cut
The lobby group whose policy paper helped trigger a wave of misinformation and conspiracy theories about a supposed federal “ban” on nitrogen fertilizer is disavowing attempts to connect its research to a “freedom movement 2.0” follow-up to last winter’s convoy occupation in Ottawa.

COP 27 Names Coca-Cola as Top Sponsor While Climate Advocates Face Hostility [Petition]
Leading plastics polluter Coca-Cola has been named as the primary sponsor of next month’s COP 27 climate summit in Egypt, prompting protests from local climate experts facing government hostility toward their work and grassroots voices from across Africa struggling to get a seat at the table.

Military Cannot be First Line of Defence for Natural Disasters, MPs Told
As national security experts warn that Canada’s military cannot continue as the country’s first line of defence in domestic disasters, organizations like the Canadian Red Cross are urging greater investment in local civilian emergency preparedness.

EXCLUSIVE: Pension Fund Gambles Retirement Savings on Alberta Oilfield Buy
A deal to sell 38,000 hectares of Alberta oil and gas lands to a company controlled by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is shining a light on large fossils’ favourite path to decarbonization: rather than shutting down some of their assets, they hand them off to smaller operators that then keep them in production.

Ukraine War Shows Russia’s Heavy Hand in Nuclear Supply Chains
The dominance of the Russian state-controlled supply chain for uranium and fuel threatens the future operation of many western reactors if international relations continue to deteriorate, an independent report into state of the nuclear industry worldwide shows.

$10M Complaint Accuses Canadian Gas Lobby of Greenwashing
A group of Canadian public health professionals and advocates have filed a C$10-million greenwashing complaint against the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) for a recent ad campaign promoting natural gas as a clean, affordable, sustainable energy option.

Toronto Corporate Landlords Use Cosmetic Upgrades to Raise Rents
Ten years of aggressive “gentrification by upgrading” has left Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood increasingly unaffordable, forcing lower-income tenants to compromise on basic needs like medicine and food to pay soaring rents, finds a recent study.

BREAKING: ‘Very Nasty Trade-Off’ as Ontario Picks Gas, Nuclear Over Renewables
Ontario can deliver enough distributed energy resources (DER) to clear a large electricity shortage over the next decade, but a prominent analyst says the provincial government is still pivoting between two equally “catastrophic” options—relying more on methane-heavy gas plants, or extending the life of an aging nuclear station outside Toronto.

Flooding ‘Calamity’ in Pakistan Prompts Call for Reparations
As Pakistan deals with the aftermath of devastating floods and links with global warming become clearer, a demand for climate reparations from the world’s top emitting countries is gaining momentum ahead of next month’s COP 27 climate summit in Egypt.

Record Methane Leak from Nord Stream Pipelines is ‘Catastrophic for Climate’
Methane leaking from the damaged Nord Stream pipelines is likely the biggest burst of the climate super-pollutant on record by far, and countries in the region suspect this week’s undersea explosions were a case of sabotage.

Atlantic Canada Reels as PM Links Storm Fiona to Climate Change
With post-tropical storm Fiona taking its place as one of the biggest catastrophic events in Atlantic Canada history, communities began to pick up the pieces while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau connected the storm to climate-induced mayhem.

Ian Slams Into Florida as Category 4 Hurricane
Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwest Florida as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., swamping streets with water and smashing trees along the coast while moving at a crawl that threatened catastrophic flooding across a wide area.

One Dead, Atlantic Without Power as Hurricane Fiona Slams Region
Hurricane Fiona has killed one person, destroyed dozens of homes, and left hundreds of thousands in Atlantic Canada without power—after causing five deaths and widespread destruction in the Caribbean. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Canadians that things will only get worse as extreme weather becomes more frequent, linking the devastating post-tropical storm to climate change.

U.S. Pushes to Dump Climate Denier Malpass as World Bank Head
John Kerry, the United States special presidential envoy for climate, signaled last Tuesday that the Biden administration is working behind the scenes to remove the president of the World Bank, Trump appointee David Malpass. Kerry’s comments came hours after Al Gore, the former U.S. vice president and longtime climate activist, called Malpass “a climate denier” and called on President Joe Biden “to get rid of” him and “put new leadership in” at the world’s largest development bank.

Alaska Storm Floods Remote Villages, Knocks Homes Off Foundations
Authorities in Alaska were making contact Monday with some of the most remote villages in the United States to determine their food and water needs, as well as assess the damage after a massive storm flooded communities on the state’s vast western coast this weekend.

UN Hits Funding Target to Prevent $20B ‘Floating Time Bomb’
The United Nations hit its fundraising goal Saturday to avert a $20-billion environmental and humanitarian disaster after the Netherlands put up €7.5 million to help salvage the FSO Safer, a disabled oil tanker carrying 1.1 million of barrels of oil in the Red Sea off Yemen.

Ontario Climate Plan is Just a ‘Glossy Brochure’, Ontario Lawyer Says
Ontario’s climate plan is just a “communications product” and a “glossy brochure” with no legal force, not anything for which citizens or the courts can hold the Doug Ford government accountable, a provincial lawyer told a judge last week.

Climate Change Made ‘Disastrous’ Pakistan Rains Even Worse: Study
Climate change likely juiced rainfall by up to 50% late last month in two southern Pakistan provinces, but global warming wasn’t the biggest cause of the country’s catastrophic flooding that has killed more than 1,500 people, a new scientific analysis finds.

UK Must Tackle Energy Efficiency or Risk Larger Crisis: Report
Britain’s new policy of capping home energy bills and subsidizing energy giants fails to address the country’s old, inefficient housing stock, says a new report—with one critic warning such an impractical energy policy could “play into the hands” of Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

South Africa Court Backs Indigenous Communities, Blocks Wild Coast Seismic Testing
A South African court sided with environmental groups and local fishing communities to strike down an oil and gas exploration permit after two UK-based companies—Royal Dutch Shell and Impact Africa—failed to consult with local Indigenous communities.

WHO, 192 Global Health Associations Back Fossil Fuel Phaseout
The World Health Organization and nearly 200 global health associations have endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT), calling for an end to new fossil infrastructure and a “fair and equitable” phaseout of existing production.

First Person: Pakistan Floods a ‘Wakeup Call’ on Loss and Damage
Witnessing a human being swept away by cruel waves of flood waters while saving five stranded children is not something everyone can bear. This was my experience in early July after a torrential rainfall event in Islamabad and adjoining areas, only a short walk from my house, just a couple of months after a devastating heat wave.

Solar Saves EU €29B in Summer Gas Costs, Set to Surge in Asia
Solar saved the European Union up to €29 billion in gas imports this past summer, and is poised for “exponential growth” across five of Asia’s biggest economies, according to two separate analyses released last week by the UK-based Ember think tank.

FSO Safer Salvage Delayed to Riskiest Months as Funders Lag
The salvage of the FSO Safer and its 1.1 million barrels of oil floating on the Red Sea will take place during the most dangerous time of year, after countries and private companies dragged their feet on a United Nations effort to fund the operation.

Wisconsin Judge Backs Indigenous Band, Stops Short of Shutting Down Line 5 Pipeline
The Line 5 pipeline has won a stay of execution in Wisconsin, where a federal judge sided with an Indigenous group’s complaint but stopped short of ordering the controversial cross-border energy link shut down entirely.

Economic Readiness Frame Prompts Reluctant Canadians to Back Climate Action: EcoAnalytics
Amid current concerns about the cost of living, the economy, and health care, communicators may not know how to frame their efforts to drum up support for action on climate change and biodiversity loss among receptive audiences, let alone those with a history of hostility to climate action.

Greenland Ice Melt to Raise Sea Levels by 10 Inches, Study Finds
Ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet will contribute at least 10 inches to sea level rise, regardless of human efforts to limit global warming, according to a new study that challenges the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) approach to measuring the phenomenon.

California Votes $54B for Climate Action, Limits Oil Wells Near Homes
A 90% clean power target by 2035, $54 billion in new spending on clean energy and drought resilience, quicker approvals for power grid upgrades and clean energy projects, and a long-awaited phaseout for oil and gas wells near homes and schools are highlights of a climate package adopted last week by the California state assembly.

Vancouver Struggles to Plant Trees in Poorest, Hottest Neighbourhood
Four years after Vancouver pledged to double street tree density in the Downtown Eastside by 2030, lethal summer temperatures and high rates of mental illness among residents show how necessary and challenging it will be to keep its promise.

Climate Change, Civil War Leave 1/3 of Tigray’s Youngest Malnourished
As the fallout from civil war, the coronavirus, and the ecological chaos generated by global heating continue to hammer the Tigray region of Ethiopia, a World Food Programme assessment finds 29% of very young children in the region suffering from acute malnutrition.

Alabama Coal Ash Pond a ‘Disaster Waiting to Happen’ as Flood Risks Rise
Upstream from one of the United States’ most biologically diverse wetlands sits a coal ash pond leaking toxic metals into the groundwater, imperiling ecosystems and threatening drinking water supplies as climate change increases flood risks.

One-Third of Pakistan Under Water in ‘Catastrophe of Unprecedented Proportions’
The familiar ingredients of a warming world were in place: searing temperatures, hotter air holding more moisture, extreme weather getting wilder, melting glaciers, people living in harm’s way, and poverty. They combined in vulnerable Pakistan to create unrelenting rain and deadly flooding.

Canadian Deep Sea Miner Seeks Ocean Riches, Island States Lose Big in Bonanza of EV Minerals
As a Canadian deep sea mining company pushes to consummate its 15-year “courtship” of the United Nations agency responsible for overseeing the equitable, ecologically safe extraction of seabed resources, a new investigative report is raising flags about the deal and its impacts.

Denmark, Germany Announce 3-GW Offshore Wind Hub in Baltic Sea
Denmark will increase its planned offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea to three gigawatts and hook it up to the German grid, a step toward weaning Europe off its reliance on Russian gas. When the new capacity is in place in 2030, it should be able to supply electricity to up 4.5 million European homes.

Climate Change to Make ‘Dangerous Heat’ Three Times More Common
What’s considered officially “dangerous heat” in coming decades will likely hit much of the world at least three times more often as climate change worsens unless countries move faster to curb their greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.

Fossils Can Cut Methane Emissions to ‘Near-Zero’ When Regulators Get Serious, Study Shows
A new case study from Alberta shows that when regulators force the issue and producers of fossil fuels get serious, the companies can drastically reduce their methane emissions without any immediate reduction in their oil and gas extraction.

U.S. Petrochemical Industry Lobbies States to Dodge Environmental Protection Rule
America’s petrochemical industry is pushing hard—and with considerable success—to have states reclassify the controversial “chemical recycling” of plastics as a manufacturing process to avoid environmental protection regulations that apply to waste disposal, says a new report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

Mixed Messages on LNG as Canada, Germany Ink Green Hydrogen Deal
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signed on to a highly-anticipated but non-binding “hydrogen alliance” during a ceremony Tuesday in Stephenville, Newfoundland, capping three days of meetings that delivered new momentum for green energy development but mixed messages on the two countries’ future interest in liquefied natural gas (LNG) development.

Eastern Canada Aims for Clean Energy Hub as 3 Communities Vie for Investment
Canada’s East Coast emerged this week as a hotbed of clean energy investment, with a high-profile green hydrogen announcement in Stephenville, Newfoundland by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz augmented—and possibly one-upped—by a new green ammonia project in Nova Scotia and talk of a third production plant in New Brunswick.

People in Appalachia ‘Refuse to Be Sacrificed’ for Mountain Valley Gas Pipeline
Environmental advocates celebrated when U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law earlier this month. But the joy is tempered by lingering caution about a murky side bargain purported to streamline oil and gas projects, Energy News Network reports.

Prison Inmates Face ‘Extreme Risk’ in Climate-Driven Heat Waves
With extreme heat on the rise in many parts of the world, prison inmates are especially vulnerable to the health and safety risks that result, writes J. Carlee Purdum, research assistant professor at Texas A&M’s Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, in a post for The Conversation.

U.S. Judge Squashes Michigan’s Bid to Keep Line 5 Case Out of Federal Court
The international dispute over Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline belongs in federal court, a Michigan judge declared Thursday, dealing a critical blow to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s bid to shut down the controversial cross-border oil and gas line.

Gwich’in-Owned Solar Farm in Inuvik to Deliver 1 MW, Cut Carbon, Boost Local Air Quality
A Gwich’in-owned company in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, is building a one-megawatt solar farm that will reduce the community’s greenhouse gas emissions by 380,000 tonnes per year, cut annual energy costs by $1 million, and improve air quality by replacing local diesel generation.

Grenada’s Simon Stiell Appointed UN Climate Secretary
A strong voice for small island states is taking the helm of United Nations climate negotiations with the appointment of Grenada’s former environment minister, Simon Stiell, as the new executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).

No Path for Canadian LNG Exports to Europe, IISD Analysis Concludes
With the European Union striving to slash its demand for Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of this year and end all its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, there’s no path for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada to help the continent meet its short-term energy needs, the International Institute for Sustainable Development concludes in a policy brief released Tuesday.

The Other Kind of Climate Change: Even a ‘Limited’ Nuclear War Would Trigger Starvation, Kill Billions
A new study is bringing new focus to the other form of human-induced climate change that could destroy civilization and all but extinguish the human race: even a “limited” thermonuclear war would darken the skies, blot out the sunlight, and dramatically reduce harvests for four or five years.

Guilbeault Considering Alternatives to Releasing Toxic Tailings into Athabasca River
Releasing treated tar sands/oil sands tailings into the environment isn’t the only solution being considered to clean up the massive toxic ponds in northern Alberta, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says.

Toronto Housing’s Flagship Green Retrofit to Deliver 70% Drop in Energy Use
As the Toronto Community Housing Corporation embarks on an ambitious retrofit that will benefit its tenants and the climate, residents sweltering in a privately-owned low-income building across town are battling a landlord threatening eviction if they turn on the air-conditioning.

22-Year Drought, Overuse of River Drive Water Restrictions in Arizona, Nevada, Mexico
For the second year in a row, Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico will face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as the Western United States endures an extreme drought, U.S. government officials announced Tuesday.

New Fee Model Would Turn Licence Bureaus into ‘Climate Champions’
The United States needs a 45% drop in transportation emissions by 2030 to meet its climate pledges, and the country’s web of Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) branches is ideally positioned to help make that happen, says a new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature
U.S. climate hawks declared victory, Congressional Democrats got credit for a newly pragmatic approach to climate action, community campaigners demanded more ambitious action, and attention shifted to implementation after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the country’s $370-billion climate and clean energy plan and sent it to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.

State-Wide Megastorm Driven by Global Heating Could Drench California for a Month
Ferocious winds. Weeks of drenching rain and snow. Communities “ravaged beyond resettling” and irrigation dams at risk. Californians have always thought of earthquakes or, lately, wildfires when talk turns to the Big One. But new research points to the devastating impacts the state would face from a future superstorm driven by global warming.

Arctic Warms 4 Times Faster than Global Average, Surpassing Estimates
Keeping global heating below 2°C will mean saving the East Antarctic ice sheet, the world’s biggest, from catastrophic melt, but state-of-the-art climate models may well be underestimating the rate of Arctic amplification, according to two new studies from polar climate researchers.

Researchers Study Carbon Loss, Forest Impacts of Northwest Territories ‘Zombie Fires’
The 385 wildfires during the Northwest Territories’ “summer of smoke” in 2014 were just the beginning. Researchers are now collecting the first field data on the “zombie fires” that have been smouldering underground and periodically reigniting ever since.

Survival of Majestic Sequoias Depends on Human Tenacity, Hobbled by Government Bureaucracy
Sequoias are the largest trees on Earth, can live for more than 3,000 years, but are being increasingly affected in recent years by fire. But management of the giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park and elsewhere has shifted the vulnerability of the huge, mature specimens in the groves.

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts
As the global push for a hydrogen economy accelerates, researchers are urging policy-makers to address new knowledge and fill in some profound data gaps, with recent studies revealing the considerable global warming potential of a fuel that many fossils see as their industry’s best hope for a second life.

Trans Mountain Work Site Blocks Early Salmon Run on Coquihalla River, Local Observers Say
Campaigners and local residents are using photos, video, and drone footage to document a Trans Mountain pipeline work site they say is impeding an early salmon run and leaving dead fish along the Coquihalla River in British Columbia.

Ontario Pension Giant May Be Getting the Memo on Fossil Divestment, Members Say
As the burning of fossil fuels presents us with yet another summer of catastrophic impacts, the pressure is growing for pension funds to either phase out their oil, gas, coal, and pipeline assets or explain how they’re aligned with a safe retirement future for their beneficiaries. And Canada’s seventh-largest fund, the C$121-billion Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS), may be getting the memo, three of its members write for Corporate Knights.

Stranded Communities Hope for Emergency Food Supplies as Newfoundland Wildfires Rage
The reopening of a Newfoundland highway that had been closed for days because of raging wildfires provided hope Tuesday that much-needed supplies would finally arrive in stranded communities along the island’s south coast.

Shelling of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Plant Raises Fears for Nuclear Safety
In the wake of last week’s shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and now G7 foreign ministers are urging Moscow to abandon the “suicidal” gambit of using the plant as a nuclear shield, and return it to Ukrainian control.

Drought Cuts Water Flow on Rhine River, Could Slow Delivery of Essential Goods
Water levels on the Rhine River could reach a critically low point in the coming days, German officials said Wednesday, making it increasingly difficult to transport goods—including coal and gasoline—as drought and an energy crisis grip Europe.

U.S. Boomers Mobilize to Support Climate Action
Baby boomers are often derided for not taking the climate crisis seriously enough, but many do feel responsible for the climate crisis, Nexus Media News reports. Some of them say they plan to dedicate the next stage of their lives to the climate movement.

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production
Heat waves and drought in France are adding to Europe’s energy crisis which began when Russian invaded Ukraine—but the decline in the French electricity production is not just a temporary blip. France’s nuclear industry is in serious trouble.

Canadians Share Stories of Fear, Vulnerability from 2021 Heat Dome
British Columbia and Alberta residents who endured last summer’s lethal heat dome say they feel fear, anger, and guilt in its aftermath, testifying to the urgent need for Canadians to take personal and political responsibility for climate change as extreme weather threatens the vulnerable.

Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal
Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity turned up the heat on swing-vote senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, a wider network of business groups stepped up to defend the deal, and environmental justice campaigners decried concessions to oil and gas as advocates absorbed the details of the $369.75-billion climate and clean energy package announced last week by Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer.

Lethal UK Heat Wave Made ‘10 Times More Likely’ by Climate Change
As scientists confirm that climate change made the United Kingdom’s most recent devastating heat wave “at least 10 times more likely,” a frontrunner to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invoked a notorious climate denier to defend her tax-cutting plan.

Analysis: Lax Offshore Oil Regulation Puts Atlantic Canada Ecosystems, Communities at Risk
Offshore oil and gas activities in Atlantic Canada are a genuine threat to the ocean ecosystem and exacerbate climate change, but the federal government is falling short in its plans to regulate that activity, writes Mark Brooks, senior specialist, oil and gas at WWF-Canada, in a recent post on the WWF blog.

UN Declares Healthy Environment a Human Right
Fifty years in the making, the United Nations’ recent overwhelming approval of a resolution recognizing the right to a “clean, healthy, and sustainable environment” is being heralded as a “victory for people and planet,” and a potential foundation for future legal action.

Congo Opens Rainforest for Exploration, Aims to Become ‘New Destination for Oil Investments’
A scant eight months after Congo President Félix Tshisekedi joined other world leaders in a 10-year pledge to protect the world’s second-largest rainforest, the country is setting out to become “the new destination for oil investments” by auctioning off vast swaths of territory for drilling—including carbon-heavy peatlands and parts of Virunga National Park, the world’s most important gorilla sanctuary.

Canada Faces Pushback Over Proposed Fertilizer Emissions Cuts
A campaign of misinformation is working to undermine a 30% fertilizer emissions reduction target in Canada’s next Agriculture Policy Framework (APF), says a national farmers’ coalition, contending that recently announced emissions policies actually don’t go far enough.

‘Scorcher’ Summer Set to Make 2022 the Fifth-Warmest Year on Record
Even with La Niña’s cooling effect on the tropical Pacific, 2022 is set to be the fifth warmest year on record after a “scorcher” summer brought record-breaking heat across the northern hemisphere, especially in continental Europe, the United Kingdom, China, and parts of the United States.

Record Temperatures Trigger Heat Alerts for Over 100 Million in U.S.
As brutal, extended heat waves bring record temperatures across the United States and put millions of residents at risk of heat stroke and death, the government has launched a website aiming to support heat resilience amid a climate crisis.

Trudeau Announces $255M for Nova Scotia Wind, Battery Projects, Keeps LNG Option Open
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Nova Scotia last Thursday to promise green energy funds for the province, but he also said the idea of upgraded facilities to help ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in the “very short term” is back on the table.

Diplomats Make Progress on Loss and Damage, Leave Unfinished Business Before COP 27
Two days of negotiations in Berlin last week yielded decent progress on how the world’s richest countries can compensate the poorest for the impacts of climate change. But there’s a lot more ground to cover to deliver a fair, effective result at this year’s UN climate summit in November, Bloomberg Green reports.

Analysis: Media Reports Delay Climate Action by Missing the Story on Dutch Farmer Protests
When Dutch lawmakers proposed measures to reduce climate-busting nitrogen emissions in agriculture, nearly 40,000 livestock farmers took to the streets. But multiple news reports got the story wrong in ways that amplify myths and delay climate action, and the same problem has been playing out in Canada.

Neighbours Probably Want to Talk Climate, But Rarely Do, U.S. Research Finds
If you’ve been hesitating to talk with your neighbours about climate change, a number of recent studies suggest they’d likely be up for the conversation—as long as you’re ready to really listen, not lecture, and keep the focus local.