Globe Climate: In the wake of Jasper’s wildfire

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

The long-dreaded forest fires season is upon us. Jasper National Park is burning, and expected to do so for the next three months. The tragedy beckons questions on forestry management. What could have been done to better steward our forests and ecosystems?

Brazil is working on forestry management strategies with a new plan announced July 23, according to reporting from the Associated Press.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced that an area in the Amazon the size of the Costa Rica Amazon will be put aside for selective logging. The timber concessions should offer economic opportunities for locals, and – through strict regulations – institutionalize an industry that has until now operated on an ask-forgiveness-not-permission model.

Lula da Silva plans to eventually set aside 310,000 square kilometres for logging – an area the size of Italy.

Skepticism and questions abound. Will change happen or is the move an empty promise? Will it actually help rural, Indigenous communities? And will this compromise (to log in order to save) actually preserve the Amazon?

Only time, a precious resource in this moment of climate catastrophe, will give us the answer.

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

Noteworthy reporting this week:

1. Ontario’s new Energy Minister lays out vision to transform province into ‘clean-energy superpower’
2. Yukon partially takes over Victoria Gold mine cyanide spill cleanup after company fails to meet orders
3. Vancouver reverses its decision to ban natural gas for heating, cooling
4. As caterpillars eat New Brunswick maple leaves, syrup producers consider insecticide solution
5. Starfish-crossed lovers: East Coast sea stars mingle in warming ocean waters
6. The Narwhal: Are EVs realistic in rural and remote communities?

A deeper dive

In the wildfire’s wake, scope of devastation becomes clear

The Jasper Anglican Church lies in ruins – an arch, chimney and tower are all that remains of the 96-year-old building. The blaze levelled 30 per cent of the town’s 1,113 structures after a wall of fire propelled by 100-kilometre winds charged towards the town, sparking showers of embers that ignited smaller fires.

Roughly 10,000 seasonal and permanent Jasper residents were forced to evacuate, along with 15,000 visitors in the town and national park.

On Sunday, reporters were given a tour of parts of the town. The Globe’s Carrie Tait and Temur Durrani describe melted red Adirondack chairs, mangled bicycle tires and crusted cans of Lucky Lager, hints at the liquor stores, cafes and bike shops that once lined the streets.

Mayor of Jasper, Richard Ireland, lost his home of 67 years. “There’s nothing there,” Ireland said to reporters, his voice wavering with emotion.

The town and Jasper National Park remain closed to the public, with no timeline for re-entry. Parks Canada said the wildfires in the park could burn for months. So far, the wildfires have consumed 32,000 hectares, the largest burn in the park in the last century. Firefighters will be brought in from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to combat the wildfires in the park and around the province.

There are 129 wildfires burning in Alberta this morning and 31 are categorized as out of control, according to Alberta Wildfire. Little Red River Cree Nation and the community of Chippewa Lake, alongside the municipal district of Bighorn and surrounding areas, are under evacuation orders.

Globe Readers have shared memories of Alberta’s beautiful and historic mountain town – memories of missing trains, stranger kindness and how the friendly streets of this mountain town, nestled in the shadow of the jagged Victoria Cross range, was a home for curious young people, broken hearts and new immigrants.

Jasper’s downtown remains largely intact, reports Tait. Among those spared, a wooden bench dedicated to Carmela and Michele Garcea, whose family came to Canada from Italy in the 1950s and 1960s.

“In these mountains, with family & friends, we made our home,” the memorial reads.

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What else you missed

• Poverty more prevalent among those who died during B.C.’s heat dome: study
• Canada’s premiers forced to confront escalating climate change-related disasters
• Insurance claim tally for last year’s floods, wildfires in Nova Scotia: $490 million
• King Charles installs solar panels at Windsor Castle
• Firefighters get some help from cooler temperatures after California’s largest wildfire explodes
• Environmental activists target Montreal airport for third consecutive day

Opinion and analysis

Kelly Cryderman: It’s not just a vast forest burning – Jasper is one of the most beautiful spots on the planet

Evan Fraser: Our fragile food supply chain was built for a world that no longer exists

Green Investing

Deloitte – Global professional services company – has released its 2024 Sustainability Action Report, a survey of 300 executives at publicly owned companies with revenues of $500-million, minimum. The survey questioned them about the future of environmental, social and governance, a metric increasingly being used in investment decisions.

The executives surveyed in the report highlighted three areas of opportunity – and challenge – moving forward. The two trends were higher investment in reporting and doubling down on building ESG teams. However, the major challenge seems to be data quality. Accordingly, 57 per cent say quality is the biggest problem with ESG data as the companies invest in their disclosure capabilities. A further 88 per cent list data quality as one of the top three challenges.

• Quebec adds another US$300-million to joint Airbus manufacturing project
• Toronto-area floods cost us more than $4-billion. When will we learn?

The Climate Exchange

Check out our new digital hub where you can ask your most pressing questions about climate change. It’s a place where we hope to help by answering your questions, big and small, about the continuing changes and challenges around climate change. Along the way, we’ll aim to highlight the people, communities and companies who are working toward climate solutions and innovations. For the record: while RBC supports the initiative financially, the company has no say in what questions get asked or how The Globe answers 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, what happened at COP28 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

• Suspense builds around water quality in the Seine
• Ice is clogging the Northwest Passage
• Impasse at the New Brunswick Nuclear Reactor
• The true cost of cleaning up mining pollution is growing

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