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LATEST NEWS ON THIS TOPIC

Yukon Falls Short on Renewables after Climate Council Maps Decarbonization Path
Poor planning, funding shortages, and plans to build new critical mineral mines are imperilling Yukon’s plan to reduce emissions 45% by 2030, even as the territory’s climate leadership council maps out a pathway to success.

Low Funding, Fewer Deep Retrofits Limit Gains from Canada Greener Homes Program
A survey of building retrofits under the Canada Greener Homes program says funding limits are holding homeowners back from more extensive energy efficiency improvements, just as national polling shows an overwhelming majority of Canadians looking for relief on their home heating bills.

Toronto Lands Transit Funding as Ottawa Council ‘Ties Hands’ with Budget Deficits
As Toronto celebrates a big win for transit funding and British Columbia pushes ahead towards greenlighting density near transit, the City of Ottawa is being urged to up its transit game, while Edmonton struggles with its electric bus fleet.

Quebec Stands Its Ground, Leads Other Provinces with $1.8B for Non-Market Housing
While the Canadian and some provincial governments pitch incentives for private developers in a bid to ease the country’s affordable housing crisis, Quebec is devoting $1.8 billion in federal and provincial dollars to public housing, co-ops, and non-profits.

NYC’s Non-Profit Cleantech Lab Boasts 88% Success Rate
A non-profit clean technology accelerator and innovation hub in Brooklyn is claiming an 88% success rate for the climate solution start-ups it supports, with an approach that stresses stepwise business development rather than a search for the next technological “unicorn”—and weeds out greenwash at an early stage.

Norwegian Cities Favour Transit, Walking Despite Generous National EV Subsidies
Even as other countries look to Norway for inspiration on boosting electric vehicle adoption, its cities are looking to mass transit and walkable communities—not cars—for the stable climate and greater equity that the energy transition promises.

‘Cost of Doing Nothing’ Toolbox Helps Cities Justify Climate Investments
A new resource helps cash-strapped municipalities build a business case for climate adaptation spending by appraising the greater cost of “doing nothing,” providing a practical budgeting tool for Canadian communities that increasingly face losses from climate-driven disasters.

Ottawa Mulls Loan Guarantees for Indigenous Resource Projects, Sidesteps Clean Energy Options
With the federal government laying plans for a new loan guarantee program to help Indigenous groups invest in major natural resource projects, the discussion appears to have sidestepped clean energy options that already account for more than 600 projects in communities across the country.

Lac-Mégantic Microgrid to Become Model for Local Communities
Two years after commissioning a smart microgrid in Lac-Mégantic, the town in Quebec’s Estrie region whose downtown was incinerated a decade ago by a runaway oil train, the federal government and Hydro-Québec are investing another C$3.7 million to make the project a model for other communities.

Utilities Need Deep Engagement, Trusted Point of Contact to Deliver Energy Efficiency to Underserved Communities
A non-profit in Winooski, Vermont is recommending community-based approaches to customer engagement to connect energy efficiency programs with low-income and racialized households, after discovering that increased competition among service providers makes it harder for poorer households to get the clean energy advice they need.

Pictou, NS Community Centre Expects $350K Annual Saving from Building Retrofit
The C$2.9-million retrofit of a community centre in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use by 34%, save $356,000 in annual operating costs, and embody the centre’s dedication to all-round well-being.

‘Iconic Yellow School Bus’ Can Shield Child Health, Cut Emissions with Shift to Electric
Focused pilot programs and supportive policies will enable Ontario to transition its fleet of more than 20,000 school buses from diesel to electric power for big environmental gains, healthier and happier school children, and substantial economic development.

Monthly Payments Take Up-Front Costs Out of Home Energy Efficiency Improvements
Insulation, air sealing, heat pump water heaters, HVAC duct work, and upgraded heating and cooling appliances will be available to North Carolina households on a pay-as-you-go basis under a new “tariffed on-bill” energy efficiency program introduced by Duke Energy, believed to be the first of its kind for an investor-owned utility in the United States.

Seniors Affordable Housing Retrofit Cuts Energy by 50%, Emissions by 93%
A Vancouver organization with a 70-year history of delivering affordable housing for people who need it is renovating two decades-old seniors housing buildings to the Passive House energy efficiency standard, thanks in part to a C$10-million grant from the Green Municipal Fund (GMF).

Green Municipal Fund Plots Course from ‘Project Support to Transformation’
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund (GMF) will take a multi-solving approach to sustainability priorities in cities, while aiming to secure C$300 million in leveraged capital investments over the next three years to support its climate mitigation and adaptation solutions.

Look Beyond Transit-Oriented Development, Victoria Councillor Urges
Transit-oriented development (TOD) is one of the keys to building sustainable communities where people can lead car-lite lifestyles, but treating it as a stand-alone mantra might also be a bit outdated, says Victoria city councillor Dave Thompson.

Youth Fill Out Mock Application Letters for Youth Climate Corps
The news last month that U.S. President Joe Biden is launching an American Climate Corps is bringing new momentum to a similar effort in Canada, with one crucial difference—the British Columbia-based Climate Emergency Unit is calling for a national Youth Climate Corps where no young person who wants a good, green job will be turned away.

$845B in Annual Losses Shows Urgent Need for Resilient Infrastructure: Report
With infrastructure loses due to climate change as high as US$845 billion per year, and 60% of the physical assets the world will need by 2050 yet to be built, policy-makers and stakeholders must integrate urgently-needed resilience into their infrastructure planning, a new report concludes.

Scaling Up Renewable Energy Co-Operatives Can Help Energize Canada
Community-led renewable energy co-ops can play an essential role in getting climate pollution under control by helping Canadians actively participate in the energy transition and benefit economically, concludes a new post for Policy Options.

Leading Climate Models Underestimate Clean Energy Progress, Overstate Cost, Study Finds
Standard climate scenarios are underestimating the uptake of renewable energy technologies and overestimating the cost of the net-zero transition, according to a new paper in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.

Clean Energy Funding Isn’t Just About Money, Policy Expert Warns
Poorly-conceived business proposals vying for a share of the US$500 billion in United States government funding for clean energy and infrastructure could lead to “disastrous” results, warns Anne Clawson, principal and founder at Cascade Strategies.

‘Huge Loss’ for Local Green Economy as Vancouver Shutters Its Economic Commission
Business and community leaders are expressing shock and confusion after Mayor Ken Sim’s office abruptly announced that it is shutting down the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC), a local institution that has helped diversify and green the city’s economy since it formed in 1995.

Community-Driven Solutions Can Take Back Ontario’s Electricity Future: Torrie
Community action is the only possible antidote to a provincial energy plan in Ontario that sidelines renewable energy in favour of costly fossil fuels, Corporate Knights Research Director Ralph Torrie told a recent webinar.

Californians Fight for New Community Solar Plan
It was “everyone against the utilities” in California earlier this month as the push to secure a new payment structure for community solar entered its final stretch, carrying the potential to make the state a sector leader while reducing energy poverty and climate emissions.

Electrifying School Buses Will Energize Ontario’s Auto Sector: Pembina
Embracing electric school buses could rejuvenate Ontario’s struggling small and medium-sized auto manufacturing enterprises, the Pembina Institute says, in a report that urges Premier Doug Ford’s government to go full-throttle with investments in this direction.

Canadians Could Save $10.4B, Cut Climate Pollution by Replacing Central Air with Heat Pumps
Canadian households could cut their energy bills by $10.4 billion and reduce climate pollution from home heating by 19.6 million tonnes by 2035 by using heat pumps for cooling rather than air conditioners, a new report concludes.

‘Mobility as an Amenity’ Service for Apartments, Condos Nabs $1M in Community Investment
An electric ridesharing start-up that plans monthly subscriptions for Canadian apartment and condominium dwellers has received a million-dollar investment from three of the country’s six Low-Carbon Communities Canada (LC3) centres.

Put Energy Efficiency, Renewables First in Grid Transformation, Analysts Urge Ontario
It’s time for decision-makers in places like Ontario to get visionary and rethink our top-down grid from the bottom up, write Ottawa Climate Action Fund Executive Director Steve Winkelman and The Energy Mix Publisher Mitchell Beer, in a post for Corporate Knights.

Low-Interest PACE Loans Make Home Energy Retrofits a ‘No Brainer’
In pursuit of ambitious emission reduction targets, cities across Canada and the United States are offering residents and businesses low-interest loans to cover the upfront costs of energy efficiency upgrades like heat pumps, solar panels, and insulation.

Locally-Led Adaptation Must Align Resources with Community Needs
Making good on the promise of climate adaptation that is truly “locally-led” and thereby focused on community resilience means “radical shifts” in the distribution of resources and power, says an international team of adaptation researchers.

Canadians Pay More for Insurance, More Americans Shut Out as Climate Impacts Mount
Canadians are paying more for insurance as risks related to climate change become more severe, but they’re still “for the most part, insurable” while more Americans lose their coverage, a senior industry executive says.

Ottawa Funds 9 Alberta Solar Projects Totalling 163 MW
Nine new solar projects, most of them in Indigenous communities, will add 163 megawatts of generating capacity and 48 MW of battery storage to Alberta’s electricity supply following a C$160-million grant announced last week by federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

Climate Models Understate Risk of Simultaneous Crop Failures, Study Finds
A new study finds that widely-used climate models have a blind spot for how extreme weather events affect food production when multiple regions are hit at the same time, thereby underestimating the threat that climate change poses to global food security.

Halifax Climate Plan Exceeds Targets with Integration, Funding, Buy-In
Halifax is set to surpass the goals of its climate action plan, which was a winner on three fronts: it secured a crucial source of funding for its initiatives, won buy-in from residents through early and ongoing consultation, and integrated its vision into other municipal priorities, recognizing that climate solutions can’t operate in a vacuum.

New York Congestion Pricing Plan Gains Final Federal Approval
Congestion pricing for New York City has cleared its final federal hurdle, leaving a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)-appointed panel to decide on final toll rates and exemptions, public transit advocates celebrating, and those apprehensive of changes to the status quo crying foul.

MAYOR CHOW: Toronto Election Result Raises Hopes for Faster Climate Action
Expectations are running high that veteran politician, community activist, and changemaker Olivia Chow will get Toronto on track to meet its climate and energy transition targets after winning the mayoralty of Canada’s largest city.

Canada Launches Resilience Plan Amid Mounting Climate Costs
Canada’s latest climate adaptation strategy specifies key targets and goals that commentators said were lacking in the first draft, and it comes with an updated action plan that has new investments for flooding, freshwater, supply chains, and security.

Energy Retrofit Conference Shows Scramble to Scale Up
A national energy retrofit conference in Montreal earlier this month captured the momentum of a sector that is beginning to scale up, but still scrambling to hit the volume and speed that will deliver on Canada’s commitments for emission reductions and net-zero buildings.

Heat Pump System to Slash HVAC Emissions 53% in NYC Apartment Complex
An 834-unit mixed-use development being built in New York City is set to be the state’s largest residential project with a geothermal heat pump system, thanks to a mix of compatible building specs, committed developers, and state support.

Majority of EU Mayors Declare Climate Action a Top Priority
Over 54% of European mayors who responded to a recent survey put climate action among their top three priorities for 2023, with many urging European Union parliamentarians for better dialogue and increased spending for a faster energy transition.

Community Movement Brings Puerto Rico its First Locally-Owned Microgrid
Six years after Hurricane María underscored Puerto Rico’s urgent need for a resilient power supply, a small town in the island’s mountainous interior will switch on its first community-owned solar microgrid, weeks ahead of peak storm season.

Long-Overdue Investment Can Halt Toronto’s Transit ‘Death Spiral,’ Expert Says
Substantial and long overdue investment in public transit—not cutting services and raising fares—will help cities avoid the “transit death spiral” and bring Canada closer to meeting its decarbonization goals, says University of Toronto Associate Professor Shoshanna Saxe, Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure.

Cities See Abundant Benefits from Urban Farms, Food Forests
Urban farms and food forests can provide communities with bountiful food, carbon storage, and local cooling while boosting equity and sustainability—but they face competition for land from real estate projects that generate more immediate financial returns.

‘Hinge Moment’ for Humanity Demands ‘YIMBY’ Mentality: McKibben
Environmentalists have scored big wins for the planet by saying ‘no’ to greedy corporations and myopic governments, but the time has come to embrace the right kinds of development with “a resounding yes,” says veteran climate activist Bill McKibben, offering guidelines for discerning which battles to fight—and when to yield.

Community Wind Farm Earns Support, Generates Income in German Village
A small village in Germany is generating income for all residents and a second cash crop for farmers with a community wind farm that dates back to 1999, recently boosted its capacity from four turbines to eight, and now produces about 50 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to power about 16,000 homes.

Embrace Suburbs, Exurbs in Climate Planning, Researchers Urge Cities
Extending regional planning to suburbs and exurbs is key to catapulting cities toward their climate goals, even as funding and capacity limits make it harder to implement climate pledges, two Brookings Institution researchers say in a recent blog post.

Germany’s Flat-Rate Fare Needs Comfortable, On-Time Transit to Succeed
Germany’s recently-launched €49 (C$71.50) Deutschland Ticket—which covers monthly travel on all regional rail, metro, tram, and bus networks—is showing promise, but experts say its long-term success hinges on reliability and comfort improvements, essential for enticing car drivers to take public transport.

Cities Need Fast, Frequent Service to Halt Transit ‘Death Spiral’
Beyond electrifying fleets, lowering fares, or fighting crime, experts say delivering reliable, timely service will be key to saving public transportation in the United States, where rising labour costs, inflation, and stagnated revenue from low ridership have led to multi-billion-dollar shortfalls.

GETTING IT DONE: Greenest Cities Shift Gears from Plans to Implementation
With the majority of the world’s population living in urban areas, and cities accounting for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions, local governments will play a central role in allocating the $6 to $9 trillion per year that must be invested in the global sustainability transition this decade, concludes the latest Sustainable Cities Index published by Corporate Knights.

95% LOWER EMISSIONS: Sweden’s Shift to Heat Pumps Holds Lessons for Canada
Sweden’s early shift from fossil-fueled heating to electric heat pumps suggests a carrot-and-stick approach of incentives and regulation could help Canadians achieve the lowered costs and 95% drop in building heating emissions that Swedes have enjoyed since the 1990s.

Climate Becomes Industrial Policy, Cities Jump Onboard as EV Popularity Surges
With public demand for electric vehicles rising fast and an EV price war picking up steam, all signs suggest a tipping point for a technology shift that has long been expected to undercut demand for fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and offer car owners a more affordable, convenient ride.

Electric School Buses Boost School Attendance, Deliver Emergency Power
Exhaust-free electric school buses have not only improved school attendance in the United States but will also serve as a crucial emergency power source in Atlantic Canada, making them an essential tool for preserving child welfare, public health, and community resilience.

Google Plans 500-MW ‘Synthetic’ Community Solar Project
Tech giant Google is joining forces with one of North America’s largest clean energy companies to build a 500-megawatt solar portfolio in 80 community- sized chunks, with 10% of the resulting revenue flowing to at least 25,000 “high-energy-burden” households.

Deep Retrofit Slashes Energy Use 68% in 110-Year-Old Ottawa Home
The owner of a 110-year-old house in Ottawa South is enjoying significantly lower power bills after deep energy retrofits slashed his home energy requirements 68%, eliminated drafts and dampness, and guaranteed him comfortable indoor temperatures—come winter or summer.

Berlin Rejects 2030 Carbon-Neutral Target, Gains €5B Transition Fund
Residents of Berlin, Germany rejected a referendum aimed at achieving carbon neutrality 15 years earlier than planned. But the failed vote in late March brought silver linings, including a windfall €5-billion fund for climate action and valuable lessons for other cities.

New Software Helps Condos, Apartment Buildings Install More EV Chargers
A new energy management system for large buildings is holding out the prospect of easier, more efficient electric vehicle charging for apartment and condo dwellers, just as the need for charging spots becomes more immediate—and, in some buildings, more controversial.

Harris Unveils ‘Largest Community Solar Project in U.S. History’
The largest community solar effort in United States history—expected to generate 1.2 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 140,000 homes and businesses—was made possible by incentives from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration says.

Students on Campus, Seniors in Rockers Press Banks to Dump Fossil Investments
Canadian university students on occupation and hunger strike and American seniors in rocking chairs are intensifying the pressure on big banks to drop their fossil fuel investment, and on one university to drop plans for four new gas-fired power plants—just as new research shows that divestment has an impact on fossils’ market value.

Orderly Climate Transition Needs Fossil Fuel Bans, Phaseouts, Authors Say
An orderly yet wide-ranging energy transition in the United States will require restrictive supply-side polices to “actively wind down fossil fuel extraction,” say the co-authors of a new report that urges policy-makers to treat carbon fuels the way they did lead paint and asbestos—either ban them outright or phase them out.

BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy
An array of new tax credits for clean energy development and a pledge to secure Canada’s place in a global green economy are at the centre of this year’s federal budget, released Tuesday afternoon by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, with an estimated $80 billion in multi-year funding for mostly clean energy technologies.

Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead
With five million Somalians left acutely food insecure after five consecutive failed rainy seasons, the Somali diaspora in Canada is trying to raise awareness of their homeland’s plight—and pointing to a financial policy that has made it costlier to send aid to their loved ones.

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action
A stark choice between climate stability and global devastation is the constant drumbeat from a landmark report released today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years,” the UN agency states in its Sixth Assessment Report.

Shift from Fossils to Renewables is Quickest, Cheapest Path to Cut Emissions, IPCC Report Shows
Drastically reducing fossil fuel consumption while scaling up renewable energy and energy efficiency is the quickest but also the most affordable path to the rapid, deep emission reductions that can get the climate emergency under control, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes in its synthesis report released Monday.

U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse
More than 1,550 community solar, battery storage, and hydrogen firms in the United States were rushing to regroup after last week’s collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which had issued them billions of dollars in operating loans.

Hawaii Firm Turns Home Water Heaters into Grid Batteries
A Honolulu company is helping low-income families in Hawaii reduce energy costs while contributing to a more sustainable grid—by linking household water heaters to create a virtual power plant, effectively repurposing the ubiquitous appliances into grid batteries.

No Climate Risk Targets for Banks, New Guides for Green Finance as 2 Federal Agencies Issue New Rules
Bankers will have to disclose but not take action on their exposure to financial risk, and the definition of “transitional” investments leading to a net-zero economy might include new spending on carbon capture and “blue” hydrogen projects, under two new reports from federal agencies over the last several days.

Book Excerpt: ‘Hope Beckons’ as Solar and Wind Scale Up
How is it possible that a year of new solar and wind installations can already deliver more than twice the total peak power capacity it took Canada a century to build? In this book excerpt, author and investigative journalist Paul McKay says it’s partly because renewable production costs per unit are going down as scales and sales go up.

Canada Falls Behind on Reporting Scope 3 Emissions
Making it mandatory for Canadian companies to report their largest and most material Scope 3 emissions categories will set them up for success in the global energy transition, the Canadian Climate Institute (CCI) concludes in a blog post published last month,.

Alberta Faces ‘Significant Disadvantage’ by Ignoring Energy Transition, Pembina Warns
Alberta’s ability to thrive and attract investment in a world shifting to low-carbon energy will depend on the climate and energy policy choices it makes in the weeks leading into this spring’s provincial election and beyond, the Calgary-based Pembina Institute warns in a 23-page policy roadmap released last week.

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.

Local Buy-In Brings Denmark’s ‘Renewable Energy Island’ Close to 100% Fossil-Free
A tiny Danish island has completed its journey to becoming the world’s first “renewable energy island,” with its roughly 4,000 residents reducing their emissions to near zero through collective ownership of wind turbines, solar panels, and biomass heating plants.

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.

Wind and Solar Cheaper than Gas Plants in Ontario and Alberta, Study Shows
Wind and solar farms with battery backup are both cheaper to build than natural gas power plants in Ontario and Alberta, and the price of the renewable options is expected to fall another 40% by 2035, concludes a report released last week by Clean Energy Canada (CEC).

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022
Oil and gas production will fall faster than previously expected, renewable energy will grow more rapidly, and global carbon dioxide emissions will drop as a result, according to a new analysis released yesterday by colossal fossil BP.

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.

IRON OXIDE: New Battery Brings Long-Duration Storage to Grids, 750 Jobs to West Virginia
Long-duration storage batteries are beginning to emerge as an alternative to expensive, new transmission lines as power utilities shift to renewable energy, and a town in West Virginia is about to gain 750 jobs as a result.

BREAKING: GFANZ Banks, Investors Pour Hundreds of Billions into Fossil Fuels
Banks associated with Mark Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ) poured US$269 billion into “fossil fuel expanders” in the months after the alliance formed, and investment houses like BlackRock and Vanguard held another $847 billion linked to 165 billion barrels of oil or equivalent under development, according to a scathing report issued this morning by Paris-based Reclaim Finance.

Hydrogen Patents Reveal Shift Toward Cleaner Technologies
Innovators motivated by climate change have been shifting hydrogen technology toward low-emission solutions, boosting the potential for green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels in industries like long-haul transport, where few clean alternatives exist.

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.

Off-Grid Renewables Expand to Fill Energy Access Gaps
Off-grid energy from technologies like mini-grids, biofuels, and solar may often go unrecorded, but a new report attempting to fill statistical gaps finds that off-grid renewables capacity has continued to grow, despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

IN CONVERSATION: U.S. Looks to Massive Increase in Rooftop Solar Jobs
Sandy Anuras is Chief Technology Officer at Sunrun, a leading home solar, storage, and energy services company in the United States. In this feature interview last fall, she talked about nine million renewable energy jobs to be created over the next decade, a tipping point for rooftop solar, and the opportunities for workers who are too often left behind.

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.

Rise of Energy Storage Could Transform Ontario Grid
Ontario is staring down an electricity supply crunch and amid a rush to secure more power, it is plunging into the world of energy storage—a collection of technologies that is poised to transform the provincial grid and change the way energy is used, bought, and sold by homes and businesses.

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.

‘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.

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 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.

Small Change in Window Technology Saves Energy, Cuts Costs at U.S. Hospital
A small shift in design approach could lead to solid gains in the energy performance of low- and mid-rise institutional buildings, according to the team behind a recent energy retrofit that covered a single floor of a university hospital in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Community Energy Fund, 100% Renewable Utility Deal Boost U.S. Energy Transition
The United States clean energy transition received two boosts this month from the Biden administration—a US$550 million cash infusion for community-based clean energy initiatives, and a first-ever 100% carbon-free electricity agreement with a utility.

Green Jobs Make the Case for Energy Transition in Conservative U.S. States
Green factories—and the green jobs they bring—are shifting attitudes in some of the most conservative parts of the United States, and the trend is set to accelerate with the Biden administration planning US$25.7 billion in clean manufacturing, much of it in deep-red Republican districts, Bloomberg News reports.

Canadian Banks Increased Fossil Investment in 2021, Report Card Shows
Canada’s biggest banks receive letter grades of B- to D, and all show increases in their fossil fuel lending and underwriting between 2020 and 2021, in the latest report card issued last week by Investors for Paris Compliance (IPC).

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.

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.

Back Low-Income Energy Savings, Efficiency Canada Urges Ottawa [Sign-On]
Provincial energy efficiency programs and national energy savings rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic, but energy savings for low-income households still need a lot more attention, Efficiency Canada concludes in the latest edition of its annual Provincial Energy Efficiency Scorecard.

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.

Climate Action Gains, ‘Red Wave’ Fizzles in U.S. Midterm Elections
With the partisan tilt of the next U.S. Congress still uncertain nearly a week after midterm elections last Tuesday, a few things are clear: there was no “red wave” propelling Trump-friendly candidates into office, a strong youth vote was a decisive factor in the election result, and climate action was a winning issue for campaigns in several key U.S. states.

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.

50 Big Firms Join Climate Action Declaration to ‘Outsize’, ‘Outvoice’ the Global Fossil Lobby
Just a few years ago, much of the business community viewed climate advocates with indifference or skepticism. Today, companies representing 40% of the stock market have committed to science-based targets around reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Carney Sees ‘Wall of Opportunity’ in Clean Investment as GFANZ Accused of Stalling Out
UN climate finance envoy Mark Carney is pointing to a “wall of opportunity” for clean energy investment, even as a senior banking executive declares that Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ) is stalling out on the voluntary commitments it’s trying to extract from the world’s biggest banks.

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.

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”.

EXCLUSIVE: Canada Pitches European Gas Exports, But Europe Won’t Be Buying
Canadians are being sold on a future of natural gas exports to Europe just as European countries speed up their exit from all fossil fuels, says a leading energy transition researcher who’s just finished a series two-week fact-finding visits to Ireland, Denmark, and France.

Canadian Pension Fund Rejects Divestment, Takes Fire for Fossil ‘Entanglements’
The CEO of the pension fund that controls retirement investments for 21 million Canadians has reconfirmed his position that “engagement,” not divestment from fossil fuel companies, is the right way forward during the global energy transition.

2/3 of Americans, Europeans Back Climate Action, Faster Transition
Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the federal government is not doing enough to fight climate change, according to a new poll that shows limited public awareness in the U.S. about a sweeping new law that commits the U.S. to its largest ever investment to combat global warming.

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.

Nova Scotia Power Declares ‘Pause’ on $5B Atlantic Loop Scheme
Nova Scotia Power’s decision to “pause” its participation in the proposed Atlantic Loop megaproject is just a temporary setback in the bid to end the region’s reliance on coal, says the federal cabinet minister charged with moving the electrical grid off fossil fuels.

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.

Fossil Investment Could ‘Fully Finance’ Renewable Shift to 1.5°C
Redirecting $570 billion per year from planned oil and gas investments could “fully finance” wind and solar expansion to meet a 1.5°C target, showing that oil and gas development must be halted to keep global warming within safe limits, a new report concludes.

LNG Buying Spree Could Double German Energy Costs, Waste €200B
Germany’s global buying spree for liquefied natural gas could double consumer energy prices and cost it hundreds of billions of euros, particularly with renewably-produced hydrogen on track to out-compete LNG on price in as little as a decade, according to two recent analyses.

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?

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.

Fossils Misuse Antitrust Law to Foil Climate Action, Expert Warns
Immediate policy reform is needed to stop the fossil industry from using anti-competition laws to thwart corporate climate action, says an Oxford University public policy expert who recently had to lawyer-proof his advisory group’s guidance on the climate risks of coal.

Don’t Subsidize ‘High-Stakes Gamble’ on LNG, Economist Urges Ottawa
Even with Europe scrambling to break its dependence on Russian gas supplies, there’s no reason for Canada to subsidize expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects with questionable long-term prospects, says clean growth economist Rachel Samson, vice president of policy at the Institute for Research on Public Policy.

‘Yes, We Love Our Heat Pump’: Fossil-Free Household Cancels Contract with Gas Company
“To answer a question I am often asked—Yes, we are still happy with the decision, five years ago, to replace our gas furnace with an air-source heat pump,” writes engineer and renewables advocate Bill Nuttle. “It is one of the best decisions we ever made.”

Experts See Downside for Democracy in Patagonia Sale
In making planet Earth Patagonia’s “only shareholder,” founder Yvon Chouinard has exchanged considerable personal fortune for substantial political power—an outcome that is good for environment, but could be detrimental for democracy, say experts of philanthropy and tax law.

EXCLUSIVE: Nova Scotia Start-Up Touts ‘Green’ Hydrogen Plant Powered by Coal
A green hydrogen/ammonia facility planned in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia is being touted as a blessing for the province’s climate goals, even though it will initially be powered by a coal-fired grid—with all the ammonia slated for export overseas.

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.

Vehicle-to Grid Tech Stabilizes New England Grid, Cuts Power Cost
Cities and utilities in New England are experimenting with bi-directional charging technology, pulling power from parked electric vehicle batteries during peak demand to stabilize the grid and boost reliability while delivering cost savings to customers.

Clean Energy Employs Majority of Energy Workers Worldwide, IEA Reports
Clean energy companies employ more than half of the 65 million workers in the global energy sector, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report that urges a just transition to support the “energy work force of tomorrow”.

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.

#TBT: Queen Elizabeth’s Banker Dumps Extreme Fossil Investments
June 28, 2020: Coutts, the private banker to Queen Elizabeth II and the rest of the British royal family, has promised to drop its investments in the tar sands/oil sands, Arctic oil and gas exploration, and thermal coal extraction and generation, and to reduce the carbon intensity of its holdings 25% by the end of next year.

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.

U.S. Clean Grid Needs Speed, Scale, and Supply, Study Finds
Research and development, manufacturing, and infrastructure investment decisions over the next decade will determine how the United States achieves a 100% clean electricity system by 2035, say the authors of a new report that finds multiple pathways to hit the target.

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.

B.C. Zinc Air Battery Maker Announces First Manufacturing Plant in Upstate New York
Vancouver-based Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc. has confirmed plans to build its first commercial manufacturing plant—not in Canada, but in the Upstate New York, motivated by production credits under the Biden administration’s newly-adopted climate action plan.

RBC Passes Texas Test for Fossil-Friendly Financial Institutions
The Royal Bank of Canada may soon be at risk of being kicked out of Mark Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ) when the global coalition begins toughening up its rules next year. But not to worry—the bank’s climate policies have been deemed mild enough to pass a Texas government test of whether financial institutions are sympathetic enough to oil and gas companies.

California to Set 2035 Ban for New Gasoline, Diesel Vehicles
California plans to require all new cars, trucks, and SUVs to run on electricity or hydrogen by 2035 under a policy approved Thursday by regulators that seeks a dramatic cut in carbon emissions and an eventual end to gasoline-powered vehicles.

Nuclear Utilities Face Higher, More Realistic Insurance Costs Under New Treaty
Nuclear utilities are being forced to buy realistic insurance coverage for the first time ever for the catastrophic accidents the power plants could produce, under a new international treaty that has landed the industry with an enormous and increasing bill for annual premiums.

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.

Canada Pledges ‘Aggressive’ Hydrogen Target, Clings to Fossil Option as Scholz Visit Begins
An energy pact between Canada and Germany expected to be signed this week in Newfoundland and Labrador will set aggressive timelines and targets for exporting hydrogen to Germany, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Friday.

Nova Scotia Approves 5 New Wind Projects, Receives Pitch for Green Hydrogen Plant
Wind and green hydrogen projects saw a sudden wave of interest in Nova Scotia last week, with the province approving 372 megawatts of new Indigenous-owned wind capacity and a private developer seeking a permit for a green hydrogen and ammonia plant on Cape Breton Island.

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.

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.

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.

Solar On Track for ‘Staggering’ 30% Growth This Year
New solar installations around the world are poised to grow by a “staggering” 30% this year, and the industry can look ahead to double-digit growth each year through 2025, according to a Bloomberg.com analysis that predates the ambitious clean energy provisions in the US$369-billion Inflation Reduction Act adopted by the U.S. Congress last week.

Distributed Energy Gains Ground With Mobile Microgrids, Vehicle-to-Grid Technology
A suite of recent policy and technology advancements is allowing for the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) in the U.S., with innovative approaches like transportable microgrids and vehicle-to-grid programs gaining momentum.

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.

Canadian Construction Giant Expects $800 Million in Solar Project Revenue
Alberta-based PCL Construction’s 2021 solar construction revenue increased 60% over the previous year, totalling more than half a billion dollars. By the end of 2022, the company expects solar revenue to hit just under $800 million.

BREAKING: Senate Democrats Finalize Biggest Climate Spend in U.S. History as Schumer, Manchin Outfox McConnell
The United States is back on the cusp of the biggest climate investment in its history after Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and coal state Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) agreed to a US$370-billion climate and clean energy package, ending months of negotiations on what one elated advocate called the “best-kept secret in Washington”.

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.

‘Watchful Optimism’ from Climate Analysts as Canada Energy Regulator Plots Net-Zero Future
With the Canada Energy Regulator still months away from completing its next projection of the country’s future oil and gas production, climate policy watchers are cautiously optimistic that the analysis will chart a real course for a low-carbon future—and rooting for the CER to get its modelling right.

Global Gas Expansion Endangers Climate Targets, Renewables Transition
Rebuffing the still widespread narrative that natural gas is a “bridge” fuel, a team of German energy economists is warning that the massive global expansion of gas infrastructure now under way puts both climate mitigation efforts and the transition to renewable energy at risk.

Your Climate Shadow Matters More Than Your Carbon Footprint
Long promoted as the best metric of a sustainable life, the carbon footprint should be understood as just one part of everyone’s “climate shadow”—the sum of how our life choices, good and bad, intersect with the climate crisis, writes climate journalist Emma Pattee.

BREAKING: Vancouver Votes to Fund Lawsuit Against Big Oil
Vancouver City Council voted 6-5 late Wednesday afternoon to help fund a class action lawsuit to hold the world’s biggest fossil companies responsible for their local climate impacts, in what West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) is hailing as a “historic win”.

AMERICAN CLIMATE FAILURE: Time for ‘Beast Mode’ as Manchin Torpedoes Biden Clean Energy Package
Millionaire coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) played his final card and the White House conceded defeat on ambitious U.S. climate legislation, after the renegade senator declared he wouldn’t support any climate or energy provisions in President Joe Biden’s signature clean energy package.

Solar, Wind Come In Cheaper than Coal, Save $82B in Fossil Fuel Costs
New wind and solar projects saved countries US$82 billion in fossil fuel costs and will continue to provide badly-needed relief from rising electricity bills, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) concludes in a report issued last Thursday.

Newfoundland Wind Farm Would Power Coastal Green Hydrogen Plant
An environmental assessment for a one-gigawatt, 164-turbine wind farm/green hydrogen and ammonia park in rural Newfoundland is generating local concern about potential habitat impacts, while picking up some high-powered support for the community benefits the project would bring.

Europe’s Fast Pivot to Renewables Means No Long-Term Need for LNG
The European Union’s need for natural gas will peak in about three years and begin declining before any new, fixed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals can be brought online, and EU countries are deliberately trying to avoid the kind of long-term supply contracts that Canadian gas producers are looking for, a UK-based fossil fuel specialist says.

UK Climate Action Could Wane After Johnson Resigns as PM
Boris Johnson’s imminent departure as British Prime Minister is raising concern that the country will soon begin backsliding on its climate and nature commitments—even if those commitments consisted primarily of grand gestures, with relatively little practical action to back them up.

Wildfires Torch Parts of Northern Canada Triggering Smoke, Evacuation Alerts
With extreme heat continuing to feed an increasing number of wildfires in northern Canada, Yukon authorities say some residents must prepare to evacuate within two hours of notification, while in the Northwest Territories a government with stretched resources has asked locals to do their part to prevent unnecessary fires.

Puerto Rico Claims World’s Biggest Battery-Based Power Plant as LNG Development Grinds On
The Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico is claiming a victory for grid resilience after the Caribbean island installed thousands of solar batteries in the wake of a devastating hurricane in 2017. But liquefied natural gas is still very much on the agenda for the local utility.

European Banks Aren’t Factoring Climate Risk Into Lending Decisions, Regulator Warns
Europe’s banks aren’t sufficiently considering risks from climate change and must “urgently step up efforts” to make sure they understand the possible impact of floods, wildfires, and losses on investments, The European Central Bank concluded Friday, based on a stress test it conducted on 104 banks.

Calgary Adopts Net-Zero Climate Strategy, Ottawa Endorses Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty
Two of Canada’s most influential cities stepped up this week with serious action on the climate emergency, with Calgary adopting a new emissions reduction strategy that includes a 2050 net-zero target and Ottawa endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

U.S. Looks to Other Options After Supreme Court Undercuts EPA Carbon Rules
(Part 2 of a series) In the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision limiting government regulation of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, climate analysts and campaigners are now turning to other legislative options, state and city governments, market forces, and ultimately the ballot box for solutions.

Conservative Women Far More Likely Than Men to Support Green Transition, EcoAnalytics Research Finds
The first of our EcoA Tips, a new monthly series in The Energy Mix,highlights a surprising bit of data from a major survey by EcoAnalytics, a non-profit market research initiative that uses data and analysis to strengthen Canada’s environmental movement.

U.S. Methane Plan Gives Big Ag a Free Pass
Last November, the Biden administration in the United States released a Methane Emissions Reduction Plan that included detailed steps to reduce emissions of the potent planet-warming gas from the oil and gas industries and from landfills. Under the authority of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would expand regulations on fossil energy companies and require landfills to significantly reduce their emissions.

Indoor Farming Revolution Comes with Significant Carbon Cost
Indoor farming could be a powerful solution for producing food in a volatile climate, but the benefits for the food system will come at the cost of a large carbon footprint as long as those new systems depend on natural gas for heat and power.

Ottawa Demands Deeper Fuel Emissions Cuts, Offers Fossils a Double-Dip on Tax Breaks
The federal government is delaying new greenhouse gas emissions standards on gasoline and diesel by another year but will demand the oil and gas sector make bigger cuts to fuel emissions by 2030 given how much more money the companies are now making.

Refocus Agriculture Spending to Cut Emissions, Boost Productivity, OECD Urges Governments
While global spending on agriculture has increased, critical support to help the sector build resilience and reduce emissions has decreased, an international agency concludes, even though effective policies are vital to avert a global disaster as food supplies are threatened by climate disasters and the war in Ukraine.

Public Vigilance Key to Protecting Greenbelts for Climate Resilience, Report Finds
Public vigilance will be vital to preserving the well-being of the world’s greenbelts, which are needed more than ever but increasingly under threat, says a new report produced by the Ontario-based Greenbelt Foundation.

Climate Solutions Deliver ‘Widespread Benefits’ Amid Global Crisis
Hydroponic farms in shipping containers and software poised to turn electric vehicle (EV) owners into well-paid electricity providers are among the ingenious innovations that are signs of a better world to come—despite all the evidence to the contrary, the Toronto Star reports.

Pandemic Drives Up Support for Climate Action, Pessimism About Elected Leaders
As spiking inflation converges with an unequal post-pandemic recovery and an ever-escalating climate crisis, economists warn of widespread public pessimism about the future that is rapidly curdling into violent despair, especially among young men in many of the world’s poorer countries.

U.S. Renewables Industries Scramble to Reuse, Recycle Before Waste Volumes Skyrocket
There’s a categorical difference between the raw materials of the clean energy economy and those from fossil fuels, writes Canary Media. But to be considered truly sustainable, renewable industries need to restructure to allow their products to be recycled at the end of their lives.

Clean Energy Investment to Exceed $1.4T This Year, Still Falls Short of Climate Goals: IEA
Global clean energy investment is on track to exceed US$1.4 trillion this year, representing “an important step in the right direction” that nevertheless falls “well short of what is required to hit international climate goals,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) concludes in its annual World Energy Investment 2022 report released yesterday.

Canadian Farmers Offer Ottawa a Roadmap to Cut Agriculture Emissions
With ministers meeting in one month to negotiate Canada’s next Agricultural Policy Framework (APF)—an agreement that will govern agriculture spending for the next five years—a farmer-led coalition has released a roadmap to boost adoption of climate-friendly farming practices from coast to coast.

Toronto’s New Backyard Homes Will Help Fight Sprawl
A late winter vote by Toronto’s city council permitting homeowners to build a small secondary residence in their backyards is being received as a positive step to loosen a very tight rental market and reduce the city’s carbon-intensive, resource-gobbling tendency towards “tall and sprawl.”

BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December
Montreal will host a long-delayed United Nations nature summit December 5-17 that has been described as the Paris Conference for biodiversity, after Canada and China agreed to relocate the high-stakes negotiating session that was originally meant to take place in Kunming, China in October 2020.

Europe Outshines North America in New Sustainable Cities Ranking
When it comes to sustainable cities, Scandinavia is knocking it out of the park, according to the world’s first-ever crowdsourced urban sustainability index, with Stockholm scoring highest and Oslo, Copenhagen, and Lahti, Finland close behind on a list of 50 high- and middle-income cities.

Countries Pledge Faster Action on Methane, Cleantech, ZEV’s, Food Security at Biden Climate Forum
Countries accounting for about 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and economic output made new promises on methane controls, clean energy technology demonstrations, zero-emission vehicles, food security and agriculture emissions, and green shipping at a Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate convened by U.S. President Joe Biden June 17.

Lacklustre Policies in Ontario Force Ottawa to Lead on Climate: Winfield
With the Ford government situated firmly in office for a second term after an election that saw the lowest voter turnout in Ontario’s history, it’s likely that any future climate action will need to be led by the federal government, says Mark Winfield, a professor of environmental and urban change at York University, in a recent op ed.

Montreal to Turn Major Street Into Pedestrian-Friendly Linear Park
Determined to provide residents and visitors with “an experience of summer comfort in the city,” Montreal has closed two and a half kilometers of a major urban street to vehicle traffic for the summer, opening it up to pedestrians and filling it with art, entertainment, food, and lots of plant-filled spaces to sit.

Infrastructure Gap a ‘Life and Death’ Matter as Northern Canada Warms
The first major assessment of the costs of climate change to infrastructure across Northern Canada calls for action from all levels of government to bring about “transformative adaptation” and address the dual crises of climate hazards and infrastructure gaps.

Poor Communities Fare Worst as Extreme Heat Closes U.S. Schools
Extreme heat and humidity is inhibiting learning and leaving teachers in the United States anxious for the well-being of their students, as researchers estimate that by 2025, one in four public schools in the country will need to install air conditioning or upgrade their existing ventilation systems.

Civilian Climate Corps Delivers Green Jobs, Training to Avert New York Gun Violence
BlocPower’s Civilian Climate Corps provides paid, on-the-job training to New Yorkers who live in neighbourhoods with high rates of gun violence, aiming to start them on their way to a career in the city’s fast-growing green construction and clean energy trades.

‘Surge of Investment’ Brings Record Growth to Alberta Renewables Market
Unprecedented growth in Alberta’s renewable energy sector signifies a vital shift in the province’s energy economy, says the Pembina Institute, but another expert notes that Alberta’s power market also needs to be fixed—so that consumers aren’t overcharged for new grid infrastructure in the renewables boom.

In Conversation: ‘Sue Big Oil’ to Pay Its Share for Climate Disruption, B.C. Legal Centre Says
British Columbians should expect their governments to hold fossil fuel companies accountable rather than passing the costs of climate change on to citizens, said Andrew Gage, Staff Lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law, in a feature interview just days before WCEL’s unveiling of the new Sue Big Oil campaign this Wednesday.

SOLAR GAIN: Biden Announces Tariff Relief for Imported Panels, New Supports for Domestic Manufacturing
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced a two-year pause on a controversial tariff that was hobbling his country’s solar panel installation industry and imperiling his administration’s 2035 clean energy goal.

Stranded Fossil Fuel Assets Will Cost Investors Trillions, Study Finds
Private investors in rich countries stand to lose more than a trillion dollars on stranded fossil fuel assets as climate policies slash their value, giving them a powerful interest in the transition off carbon, according to new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Investigators Raid Deutsche Bank Subsidiary, CEO Resigns Over Greenwashing Allegations
The CEO of Deutsche Bank’s asset management subsidiary DWS has resigned and the company’s management is “shaken” after about 50 government investigators raided the companies’ offices searching for evidence of greenwashing, Clean Ener