Climate Prof Quits Carney's 'Net-Zero' Committee

Dec. 3, 2025

Simon Donner Resigns as Co-Chair of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body

University of British Columbia climate scientist Simon Donner has resigned as co-chair of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB).

NZAB was established in 2021 under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act “to engage with Canadians and give independent advice on how Canada can achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” its website states. Its reports and recommendations to government are meant to focus on “concrete solutions that the Government of Canada should implement to ensure that Canada benefits from a carbon-neutral global economy, accelerates the achievement of a carbon-neutral economy, and generates clean prosperity for generations to come.”

Donner has been a member of the panel from the beginning, signing on because “I was told it was important to have a climate scientist involved to help ensure the government receives advice based on the best available science,” he wrote on LinkedIn around 5 PM PT Wednesday.

But Donner resigned from his post Tuesday “with a heavy heart,” he said.

“The structure and governance of the NZAB, as set out in the legislation, was never ideal,” he explained. “But the situation became more difficult this year as the government, and its priorities, changed. I was comfortable chairing an appointed body whose advice is considered but ultimately rejected—after all, no one elected us. I was not comfortable with the process becoming neglected or performative, and it had begun to feel that way to me.”

Donner did not immediately respond to two after-hours calls asking him whether last week’s memorandum of understanding between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, widely seen as a sweeping rollback of federal climate policy, was a catalyst for his announcement.

But in June, the veteran climate researcher scorched the PM for defying basic science after he declared his government’s definition of “nation-building” projects might include “decarbonized” oil.

“There is no such thing as decarbonized oil and gas,” Donner said at the time. “Oil contains carbon. It is high school chemistry. And [it emits] carbon dioxide when they’re used.”

Donner added: “The government is going to embarrass itself by using such industry and marketing speak.”

Adam Scott, executive director of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planetary Health, said it fell to Donner to “state the obvious in response to misinformation” from the Prime Minister. “Nothing about this fact-check is political. It’s just a basic statement of reality,” Scott wrote.

[Top photo: UBC News CC BY-NC 2.0/flickr]