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The last few weeks have been … hot! Global temperatures have officially increased by 1.25 °C. And while the most indisputable consequences of climate change are making headlines, some journalists have explored underlying challenges in Canada that threaten international climate targets.
Also on the menu are an encouraging initiative in British Columbia to save the local caribou population and the effects of media coverage on the perception of climate issues (for better or worse).
News
A changing tone in climate coverage
As the heat waves and forest fire season gets underway, many media outlets struggle to find a balance between dramatization, trivialization, and overuse of scientific jargon. Quoted in this article published in Le Devoir, meteorologist Gilles Brien points out that the media exerts a great deal of influence on the collective imagination. They hold as much power to inform as to misinform. To cover climate change adequately, journalists should ensure that they cover its causes and impacts while giving up the usual clichés. As reported in this article published in La Presse, that’s exactly what some of our Canadian weathercasters are trying to do, with their mission being: “To help people understand why climate change is a real crisis.”
The federal government is granting the oil and gas industry more time to cut its emissions, despite a ticking clock
Last week, Environment Minister Guilbeault said the federal government will be extending the 2030 deadline for oil and gas companies to meet their emission reduction targets. Canada’s oil and gas emissions have been increasing steadily since 1990, yet the industry insists it needs more time to adjust.
Canada’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 includes cutting emissions across all sectors to 40–45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Quoted in this piece by the CBC, Guilbeault insists that Canada will still achieve this goal by allowing for flexibility and extending the deadline for oil and gas until 2032. If the federal government allows the oil and gas industry to avoid its share of the burden, other sectors will need to make up the remaining reductions.
So far, Canada’s track record of reducing emissions is dismal. Canada’s National Observer reports Canadians burn more fossil fuels per person than any other G7 or EU country. We are also one of the few countries in this group to have increased emissions since 1990, at a worse rate than even the United States.
The Supreme Court says no
After four years of legal action, Environnement Jeunesse, an organization also known as ENJEU, has been denied access to a class-action suit. They wanted to bring this action against the federal government, which it considers too lax in its prevention of climate change. The class action, which initially appealed to the Superior Court of Quebec, would have allowed Quebecers of 35 years of age and under, who will have to live with the consequences of the climate crisis, to seek reparations. Quoted in La Presse, ENJEU representatives stated that the Supreme Court decision is in line with a series of “contradictory judgments” in Canada regarding “the justiciability of climate change remedies.”
Solutions
Fighting to protect B.C.’s northern caribou before they “disappear in front of our eyes.”
While many might think of the caribou as emblematically Canadian, local populations in northern British Columbia are dwindling as their habitat is increasingly threatened by resource exploitation, forest fires and other manifestations of climate change. In The Narwhal last week, Ainslie Cruickshank dove into how some Indigenous Peoples, for whom the caribou plays a central role in cultural practices, are taking action to protect the specie and its habitat.
Research highlights
The 1.5°C goal
“A window of opportunity that is melting like snow in the sun.” That’s how Éric-Pierre Champagne, journalist at La Presse, summarizes the conclusion put forward by two Concordia University climate scientists who looked at the goal set by the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. In their study, Damon Matthews and Seth Wynes point out beyond any doubt that the current global efforts will not allow us to meet this target. We’ve certainly seen some progress, but we’re not progressing fast enough. A humongous collective effort would be required to reach this goal, but the 1.5-degree target is not physically (or “climatically”) unattainable. The problem is that progress is often held back by a complex mix of political, technological, and social factors. This raises the question: How can we deal with so many variables and diverging interests?
The Oxford Climate Journalism Network takes off
For the last couple months, Katherine Dunn and Diego Arguedas Ortiz spoke with more than 100 fellow journalists from all corners of the world to gather their thoughts on climate reporting. In a first-of-its-kind report from the newly launched Oxford Climate Journalism Network, they outline key issues shared by all journalists that impact their ability to report on climate meaningfully.
The long-term goal of the Network is to make climate journalism “more interesting, more effective, and more relevant to audiences.” We’ll be keeping an eye out for their upcoming research and findings to see how it might reflect on and be integrated in Canadian media. You can find the rest of the report and learn more about the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, right here.
Longform
Why American fossil fuel companies and environmentalists are ganging up on Hydro-Québec
It is unusual to find stories about Hydro-Québec in anglophone media, but when it happens, we can expect a different angle. This week, we selected this in-depth article published in The Narwhal which offers a different perspective on this clean-but-maybe-not-that-clean energy-producing Quebec public corporation. In the U.S., Hydro-Quebec has not been a favourite of fossil fuel companies and environmentalists alike. A hindrance to the development of the local energy sector, a costly and dubious promotional campaign, the disfigurement of the region’s picturesque landscapes, the cause for the destruction of the brook trout’s natural habitat, methane-emitting reservoirs: Many arguments unite those who oppose the projected transmission line that would link the Appalachia and Maine. In Quebec, five First Nations are also standing up against the construction of this energy corridor that would cross their lands.
Podcast
The Backbench, Canadaland
If you are looking to listen rather than to read, we recommend the 43rd episode of The Backbench, entitled The Catastrophe Commissioner. Host Fatima Syed sits down with Jerry DeMarco, Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development and the man responsible for keeping the government accountable to its climate goals. Together, they attempt to explain why Canada consistently fails to meet climate objectives and continues to be the only G7 member whose emissions keep increasing each year. You can listen to it here, on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts.
People
Seth Wynes
We briefly mentioned him earlier, but he deserves special attention: Seth Wynes is a postdoctoral researcher at Concordia University and a climate change specialist. He is the co-author of a study published in Science that caused quite a stir last month, notably announcing that global temperatures have increased by 1.25 °C above pre-industrial levels. On Twitter, he presents some urgently needed solutions to turn the tide.