net zero

The pandemic has reinforced the need for governments, investors and corporate leaders to direct capital more effectively at enterprises that offer solutions to combating the climate crisis, writes Martin Grosskopf, vice-president and portfolio manager at AGF Investments Inc.

In a new policy paper, the Ontario Energy Association says the expansion of renewable resources like wind and solar could play a significant role in cutting emissions. But the industry group also argues governments shouldn’t phase out natural gas.

There has been a lot of talk lately about fossil fuel subsidies in Canada — and a lot of confusion.

To hear the International Energy Agency warning about the dangers of the climate crisis is a game-changer, writes Greenpeace Canada senior energy strategist Keith Stewart.

New wind and solar power projects in China, Europe and the U.S. spurred a 45 per cent rise in the rate of new renewable energy capacity, according to the International Energy Agency.

What’s missing from the federal government's plan to lower greenhouse gas emissions is an overarching strategy that would position Canada for success and chart a course toward net-zero emissions by 2050, writes Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada.

U.S. President Joe Biden is also expected to call on major economies to join him in bold action at virtual summit of 40 world leaders, running April 22 and 23.

The 2021 federal budget represented a pivot towards a national industrial strategy for achieving emissions reductions, said Sahir Khan, co-founder and executive vice-president at the University of Ottawa's Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy.

The government says it will focus on building a clean economy in its 2021 budget. Establishing a just transition framework to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 is long overdue, writes Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

How does Canada reconcile two seemingly contradictory positions: trying to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 while at the same time supporting oil pipelines and fossil fuel exports?

As much as COVID-19 is a large-scale human tragedy, no doubt science tells us this is just a warning compared to the existential risks global warming poses to our civilization in the years and decades to come, writes Christian Burgsmüller, the European Union's chargé d’affaires to Canada.

Denmark, the largest oil producer in the European Union, has committed to ending fossil fuel extraction and ensuring the continued employment of its affected workers.

The stark message from António Guterres follows a year of global upheaval, with the coronavirus pandemic causing governments to shut down whole countries for months at a time, while wildfires, hurricanes and powerful storms have scarred the globe.

Instead, governments around the world, including Canada, expect to go in the opposite direction — producing more coal, oil or natural gas, which will result in more than double what is consistent with the Paris Agreement.

The Department of National Defence has released its Defence Energy and Environment Strategy for the 2020-23 period and expects to cut its pollution by 265 kilotonnes by 2030.