Globe Climate: Environmental work is for all ages

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

We have officially passed the first day of spring, which means it’s time to start stretching our green thumbs. For this, we’ve created a round up of 2021 garden trends.

One idea for your collection this year are tiny gardens, to add more plant life to your home. Micro-orchids, succulents, begonias, violets, mosses and ferns are perfect for tiny ceramic glazed pots or under vintage glass apothecary jars.

Or, you can also turn to inspiration in books before you get planting.

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

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Noteworthy reporting this week:

1. The Supreme Court will rule on whether the carbon tax is constitutional this week. In the meantime, the Conservatives need to put their own price on carbon (while cutting taxes and balancing budgets). Learn more about the issue with our explainer here.
2. As decades-long search for nuclear waste site nears end, communities face tough a decision. Farmers needs assurances that radiation won’t contaminate their crops. Some residents worry the deep geological repository might contaminate the Teeswater River.
3. Chevron Corp. is halting funding for the Kitimat LNG joint venture in northern British Columbia after no buyers surfaced for the much-delayed project that revamped its designs in a bid to meet British Columbia’s climate goals.

A deeper dive

Environmental work is for all ages

Sierra Bein is a content editor at The Globe. For this week’s deeper dive, she talks about what is changing in Globe Climate.

When we started Globe Climate, we wanted to incorporate the audience into this newsletter. That’s why each week you get to read a profile of someone who is making a difference. Young Canadians from across the country are working to build a better future for us all. We’ve featured some great individuals since we launched, and there are so many more coming.

Some notable examples that come to mind from recent profiles are Anna McIntosh, a 32-year-old lawyer for Ecojustice, based in Calgary (Moh’kins’tsis); Phil De Luna, a 29-year-old, based in Toronto, the youngest-ever director at the National Research Council who is helping decarbonize Canada; and Laura Corrales, a 30-year-old Colombian living in Montreal who is helping bring sustainability to Canada’s corporate world.

Last week, we did something new.

We featured Ginny Colling, who explains that her choice of what to do during retirement was obvious: she wanted to help the environment and has recently focused on other issues around climate disruption.

But Ginny isn’t alone. Check out this week’s profile below to learn about Grant Linney, a 71-year-old retired outdoor environmental educator.

Going forward, we’re going to be highlighting changemakers of all ages and all walks of life. No matter their age, we want to see what people in your community are doing and we want to share their actions with our readers.

To that end, is there someone in your community doing work for the environment? Let us know so we can feature more changemakers, and hopefully inspire others to look around and see what they can do as well.

E-mail us at GlobeClimate@globeandmail.com to share your nominations.

- Sierra

What else you missed

• Alberta’s Environment Minister is reassuring rural municipalities in the province’s dry south that their water supply isn’t threatened by industrial development such as coal mines.
• A Ugandan activist has accused organizers of a virtual climate conference of trying to censor her speech, in which she criticized world leaders for failing to do enough to curb global warming.
• Energy group BP PLC aims to build Britain’s largest hydrogen plant by 2030, as part of the country’s push to boost use of the fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
• Attorneys-General from 21 states sued to overturn President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.
• The federal government wants to plant the seed of an open air climate change laboratory on Saskatchewan farmland.

Opinion and analysis

How a GHG ruling could affect import tax

Lawrence Herman: “It is curious that in all the talk about the constitutional inequities of the federal carbon tax and all the discussion in the media and elsewhere, little if any mention has been made of these challenging international trade issues.”

Lessons learned from the acid rain battles: Big environmental problems can be solved

John Gunn, Norman Yan, John P. Smol: “Environmental science was a beneficiary and became far more international in scope, while the public began to better recognize the interconnectedness of environmental issues.”

Canadian insurance companies need to manage climate-related financial risks on both sides of the balance sheet

Janis Sarra: “While Canada’s insurers have commenced climate-related risk management, and some are undertaking strategic planning to capture the upside potential of climate-related opportunities, most insurers do not yet have the data or modelling to understand the long-term effects of climate change.”

Green Investing

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Mark Carney is a man for all crises

The financial crash. Brexit. The early days of the pandemic. Through it all, the former Bank of Canada Governor has been a steady hand. Now, back in the corporate realm (and with a new book out), he’s tackling the biggest crisis of all: climate change.

“As we shift to ‘This is what society wants,’ solving the problem becomes profitable. And it’s not just because the carbon price is going to rise over time. It’s also because consumers are increasingly focused on sustainability. It’s because the providers of capital are increasingly repricing the provision of capital based on whether you’re perceived as part of the solution or part of the problem,” Mr. Carney said.

Read the full Q&A

• Also: BlackRock ups focus on ‘natural capital’ ahead of AGM season

Making waves

Each week The Globe will profile a person making a difference in Canada. This week we’re highlighting the work of Grant Linney doing environmental education.

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My name is Grant Linney and I’m a 71-year-old retired outdoor environmental educator living in Dundas, Ont. I still teach as a volunteer, and I love it. Since being trained by Al Gore in 2010, I have delivered nearly 600 presentations on climate change — the science of the problem, the many science-based solutions that are already out there, and our vital need for active political engagement.

I have easily invested 10,000 hours on this topic, constantly reading a wide variety of sources, consulting scientist friends, writing op-eds and updating my presentations. I speak (now online) to a wide variety of audiences including high school students, service clubs, church groups, and public forums. Late last month, I spoke with more than 800 enthusiastic participants in Pakistan by Zoom and Facebook Live.

We can solve this, but we must speak up and show up, demanding the sort of immediate and massive change that transformed Canadian society during the Second World War and, now, during this COVID crisis. So far, our politicians are spouting too much rhetoric and engaging in too little action.

- Grant

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

Photo of the week

Thomas Vijayan, from Canada, won World Nature Photographer of the Year for his image ‘The world is going upside down.’ Look at the full gallery of nature photography from around the world.

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Guides and Explainers

• We’ve rounded up our reporters’ content to help you learn about sustainable ways to live life at home, travel, invest, and generally to learn about our species at risk.
• 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

• Canada hits the ground running in hydrogen race
• Why the world should see opportunity in carbon capture
• Change makers said something needs to be done. They’re doing it.
• Can Canada electrify everything ?

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.