Globe Climate: Canada’s lost opportunity to finance the critical minerals revolution

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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.

You’ll remember Justine Hunter’s story from last week, where she follows glacier researchers from B.C.’s Coast Mountains to the lab as they try to unearth climate history.

But there are more challenges to the research than going to get the ice: This year’s extreme fire weather conditions accelerated the erosion of glaciers. In the second of a three-part series, she writes about how as B.C.’s glaciers disappear, scientists must race to capture data from ice cores.

Now, let’s catch you up on other news.

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Noteworthy reporting this week:

1. Science: Canadian company launches first commercial satellite to track industrial releases of CO2
2. Policy: Premiers unite to appeal for ‘fair’ carbon-price approach
3. Technology: Carbon removal pushed as potential boon for Western provinces
4. Trade: Conservatives object to text of new Canada-Ukraine free-trade deal over references to carbon pricing
5. Oil and gas: Oil sector lobby group appoints new board as it fights for relevance
6. Clean-tech: Countering China’s clean-tech dominance continues its rise to top of Canada-U.S. agenda
7. The Decibel: Canada’s billion-dollar wine industry is changing thanks to climate change. Here’s why
8. Environment: Canada projected to miss its 2030 emissions reduction targets, says environment commissioner
9. Wildlife: Safety measures taking flight to protect birds from crashing into windows
10. On the ground with The Narwhal: Small lakes, big studies: what Ontario’s experimental lakes area teaches the world about water

A deeper dive

What happened to Canada’s critical mineral financing?

Tim Kiladze is a financial reporter and columnist at The Globe. For this week’s deeper dive, he talks about his story about Canada’s growing pains in mining and finance.

This story is part of Mission Critical, a Globe series that looks at the issues around whether Canada can become a mining superpower in critical minerals used in the clean energy transition.

The energy transition is full steam ahead, but it’s about to hit a crossroads - one that could derail the movement. With demand for green energy soaring, critical minerals are needed more than ever, because they are used to produce EV batteries and solar panels, among other things. Yet their supply isn’t expanding nearly as quickly as it needs to.

Supply, of course, is the safe way of saying extraction, which is what makes the issue so complex. More mining — likely much more mining — will be needed. And if you accept that as fact, Canada should be a leader in the critical minerals revolution. This is the land of Red Lake and Voisey’s Bay, some of the most mineral rich regions in the world.

Canada also used to be the place to finance a mining project, with the Toronto Stock Exchange luring miners from all over the world.

At the moment, though, critical minerals production is rather muted here (Canada mostly produces gold) and the mining sector is all but dead on Bay Street.

The knee-jerk reaction is to blame Ottawa for this wasted opportunity. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put climate change and Indigenous peoples’ rights at the centre of his legislative agenda. But it’s only a fraction of the truth. Nothing compares to the pain miners and their bankers inflicted on themselves.

In this weekend’s paper we examined what’s really gone down, with a nuanced look at how Canada – and Bay Street – squandered the chance to finance the critical minerals revolution

- Tim

What else you missed

• Nations gather in Nairobi to hammer out treaty on plastic pollution
• Federal Fisheries Department doing poor job of monitoring fishing industry, report says
• Greta Thunberg is interrupted at Dutch climate march after inviting Afghan, Palestinian on stage
• Chile shuts down a popular glacier, sparking debate over climate change and adventure sports
• Scientists urge Canada to take action to stop degradation of previously undisturbed forests
• Anti-mining protesters in Panama say road blockades will be suspended for 12 hours on Monday
• B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador agree to share details on growing hydrogen sectors
• Canada, other major fossil-fuel producers are failing to meet climate targets, report says
• Saskatchewan to spend $765,000 on pavilion at climate conference in Dubai
• More than 60 countries back deal to triple renewable energy this decade
• Once-in-a-century flooding swamps Somalia after historic drought, UN says

Opinion and analysis

Andrew McHardy and Ally Karmali: Creating a lower carbon future requires tech. AI can help get us there

Eric Reguly: Peak oil: It never comes, and that’s bad news for the UN climate conferences and global warming

Rebecca Pearce and Ian Graham: Canada needs to dig deep to become a world leader in geothermal technology

Andrew Coyne: If we’re not going to use carbon taxes to reduce our emissions, it may be better to do nothing

The editorial board: Climate targets can’t torpedo the economy

Green Investing

How investors can get a taste of sustainable food systems

Sustainable food systems still offer opportunities to investors – and remain a priority for the sake of the planet. Current spending on more sustainable food systems amounts to US$20-billion annually, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute. That’s less than 4 per cent of total climate finance. The institute estimated that transforming the food system will require up to US$350-billion annually by 2030. This significant challenge also creates space for big investment opportunities.

Sign up for the Globe Advisor weekly newsletter for professional financial advisors on our sign-up page.

• Freedom from fossil fuels? Canada’s energy-security future hinges on continued growth of renewables
• Business will be key to success of COP28 climate talks, special representative says
• Apple is not passing on costs of climate goals to consumers, exec says

Making waves

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Each week The Globe will profile a Canadian making a difference. This week we’re highlighting the activism work of Emilia Py.

Hi! My name is Emilia Py, I am an environmental science student at McMaster University, originally from Ottawa.

I have been involved in climate activism for the past five years from personal actions such as biking, reducing meat consumption, critically examining consumption patterns to community organizing and advocating for large-scale change. I have been involved with the divestment group at McMaster which is part of a broader movement pushing institutions to take their money out of fossil fuel investments to devalue the industry and take away their social licence to operate.

Science has shown us we are not too late to take action and I want people to see that together we have so much power and can make a difference to prevent ecological collapse. I am currently planning an action biking across Canada in August, 2024, to encourage individuals to reconnect with nature, see everything that it does for us, and help them turn their anxiety into climate justice action.

- Emilia

Do you know an engaged individual? Someone who represents the real engines pursuing change in the country? E-mail us at GlobeClimate@globeandmail.com to tell us about them.

Photo of the week

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Guides and Explainers

• Want to learn to invest sustainably? We have a class for that: Green Investing 101 newsletter course for the climate-conscious investor. Not sure you need help? Take our quiz to challenge your knowledge.
• We’ve rounded up our reporters’ content to help you learn about what a carbon tax is and just generally how Canada will change because of climate change.
• We have ways to make your travelling more sustainable and if you like to read, here are books to help the environmentalist in you grow, as well as a downloadable e-book of Micro Skills - Little Steps to Big Change.

Catch up on Globe Climate

• Glaciers could unearth climate history frozen in time
• In B.C.’s rainforest, we search for white Spirit bears
• The $15-billion green financing agency helping Ottawa’s clean-economy ambitions
• We are digging deep on critical minerals

We want to hear from you. Email us: GlobeClimate@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.