Website Editor: A great summary of Canada's fossil fuels situation and politics in this article.
Nov. 22, 2022
Canada wants to be the last country producing fossil fuels, even if it kills us
COP27 is over. The UN summit took one big step forward on climate justice with the creation of a loss and damage fund for the most impacted nations, while taking two enormous steps backwards by failing to call for a phaseout of all fossil fuels.
Eriel Tchekwie Deranger’s home community of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is in what she calls a “sacrifice zone.” The nation borders the oil production epicentre of Canada: the oilsands, which leak toxic chemicals and wreak havoc on local ecosystems.
Canada's failure to reduce climate pollution has left us far behind most of our peer nations. The primary cause of this failure has been surging emissions from our oil and gas industry. Unfortunately, it’s not the only Canadian sector with stubbornly rising emissions.
The world’s wealthiest polluting countries spend at least 15 times more on military and arms than climate finance for the world’s most vulnerable countries, a new report revealed in the final week of COP27 negotiations.
The B.C. NDP campaigned on protecting species at risk. Years later, the province still doesn’t have stand-alone species at risk legislation
‘Huge legal gaps’ are driving B.C. species to extinction, conservation groups say
More than five years ago, during an election campaign that saw the B.C. New Democrats form government, the party committed to enact a stand-alone law to protect species at risk of extinction.
"It is tempting to battle capitalist internationalization by countering it with a working-class internationalism. Specific acts of international solidarity are, of course, possible, and an internationalist sensibility is paramount. But we cannot act substantively on the international stage without being strong at home.
The clock is ticking to land an agreement for COP27, and Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault says Canada will support a proposal to launch a loss and damage fund — with a few conditions.