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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
Hi there, it’s me again, Sierra. I’m back in the office after completing a short fellowship abroad, and back at the helm of Globe Climate. Big thank you to Rebecca for taking over these past few weeks as climate newsletter captain. I really enjoyed being a reader of this newsletter while she was in charge!
It’s August and we’re reaching peak summer, are there any stories we haven’t covered yet? Are there any climate stories you’re waiting for us to cover? Let us know, email us at GlobeClimate@globeandmail.com.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
Noteworthy reporting this week:
- Weather: Hailstones the size of softballs wreak havoc in central and southern Alberta
- Ecosystems: Lake Mead’s vanishing waters give way to grisly discoveries during a lengthy drought (you can also see the lake in its prime)
- Agriculture: The agricultural revolution is here, can Canada keep up? Also, a federal-provincial agriculture deal a boost for sustainable agriculture, but falls short on emissions
- Wildlife: Snow geese were almost hunted to extinction. In a climate twist, the population is exploding
- From The Narwhal: The miner behind Canada’s largest tailings dam failure is gearing up to reopen … again
A deeper dive
Welcome to a new type of reforestation
Wendy Stueck is a Globe national reporter based out of B.C. For this week’s deeper dive, she talks about a project that lands at the intersection of technology, forestry and Indigenous innovation.
Wendy Stueck in the field near Williams Lake getting really excited over a baby treeAleece Laird, Forest Enhancement Society of British Columbia/Handout
When I heard about a project in which an Indigenous-owned company was working with an American start-up to use drones to plant trees in a wildfire zone, I was annoyed I’d missed the chance to see the drones in action. (The pilot project was carried out last November.)
The next-best thing, I figured, would be to see the results, which is how I ended up in in a British Columbia forest clearing near Williams Lake in June, cooing over a tiny Douglas fir.
The trip introduced me to Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd., a joint venture between two Tsilhqot’in communities, as well as to members of the Williams Lake First Nation.
Forests are a cultural and economic mainstay for these Indigenous communities. So it’s hard to overstate the impact of 2017 wildfires, which ripped through areas already ravaged by mountain pine beetle infestations in the 1980s and 1990s.
Freelance photog Dennis Owen taking a photo of baby treesAleece Laird, Forest Enhancement Society of British Columbia/Handout
But there’s a sense of purpose and hope too, as First Nations team up to pursue funds and contracts that reflect their community and environmental priorities.
For CCR, partnering with DroneSeed, a Seattle-based company that is positioning itself to meet what it expects will be growing demand for reforestation services, seemed a logical step.
The visit also brought home the need for tackling forest fuel loads by selective clearing and, in some cases, cultural burns.
Walking through an area near Williams Lake that was being treated for ecosystem restoration, Williams Lake First Nation chief Willie Sellars told me that elders told him they once used to travel the area by horseback, before it become too densely overgrown.
If the planned cultural burn goes ahead this fall, I hope I may have a chance to witness it.
- Wendy.
What else you missed
- U.S. Senate passes major US$430-billion bill to fight climate change, cut drug costs
- The Dutch government declared a national water shortage and is asking the public to also chip in with savings
- France pondering rescue options for a beluga whale that has wandered up the Seine River, and is more suited to cold Arctic waters
- Hot weather prompts advisories from some Ontario public health units
- A hot, dry weather forecast for August and into September is expected to increased wildfire activity in B.C.
- United Nations chief urges tax on ‘grotesque greed’ of oil, gas companies
- Near-record amounts of seaweed are smothering Caribbean coasts, killing wildlife, choking tourism and releasing stinky, noxious gases
- China halts climate, military ties with U.S. over Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit
- Wildfires in Europe burn second-biggest area on record, only halfway through its typical fire season
Opinion and analysis
Andres M. Cisneros-Montemayo, Leah M. Fusco, Marleen Schutter: How the ‘blue economy’ will shape the future of Canada’s oceans – and its coastal communities
Ken Coates: Canada’s paternalistic mindset toward supporting Indigenous communities just doesn’t work
Simon A. Fish: Why we need to change the narrative on Canada’s energy transition
The Editorial Board: What Irish cows and Canadian oil have in common (Hint: Climate)
Green Investing
Sustainable investing’s momentum sapped by economic and geopolitical crisis
Sustainable investing is taking a tumble, but don’t expect it to be like this forever. A big reason is fear – not of the climate crisis, but of the economic variety, as we see runaway inflation and recession looming large.
In the second quarter of this year, money flows into Canadian sustainable mutual and exchange-traded funds were down about 13 per cent from the previous quarter, according to Morningstar. Meanwhile, fund managers launched 14 sustainable funds during the April-to-June period, half the number of the previous quarter. That’s why Jeffrey Jones writes there is no reason to believe that demand for investments that fit with environmental hopes and dreams won’t rebound, especially once these issues return to the foreground.
- Careers newsletter: Investment industry faces widening skills gap around big data and ESG
Making waves
We will be taking a break from publishing profiles this summer! But we’re still looking for great people to feature. Get in touch with us to have someone included in our “making waves” section for after Labour Day.
Do you know an engaged individual? 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
This photograph taken on August 6, 2022, shows leaves that have turned brown and fallen to the ground early, at the Parc de Saint Cloud near Paris as France experiences a heatwave. - France saw its driest July on record, the weather agency said, exacerbating stretched water resources that have forced restrictions.JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP/Getty Images
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 COP 26, 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
- The simmering feud over an Alberta town’s possible return to coal mining
- Climate-related migration in Peru’s Amazonas region leads to community upheaval
- What does the future hold for ESG?
- How last year’s B.C. wildfires hit home for artist Brian Jungen
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.
Sierra Bein