Globe Climate: A new energy direction

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

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s vision for the future of Canada’s energy sector has come into focus this week, and it says a lot about where climate change efforts will end up in the future, too.

Now, let’s get you caught up on other news.

Noteworthy reporting this week:

1. Pause on mandatory climate disclosure to continue indefinitely, regulators say
2. Alberta towns scarred by fires look to change the way they build
3. Advocates fear Liberals have abandoned election pledges on animal welfare
4. First Nations chiefs press Ottawa to revive drinking water bill
5. Grizzly attack shatters Indigenous community where bears hold spiritual significance

A deeper dive

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Turning a new leaf on energy

For this week’s deeper dive, we look at the new energy deal between Alberta and Ottawa, signalling a major shift in the provincial-federal relationship and climate policies for the country.

The Prime Minister has been tasked with the difficult job of running a country in the middle of a trade war. Canada has been waiting to see his plans to fight climate change while balancing an economic agenda that relies heavily on traditional energy industries.

He’s been making quick work of it. Less than a month after the release of his government’s first budget, he and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding in Calgary.

“And it turns out to be dramatically different from the strategy he inherited from Justin Trudeau, much more so than indicated even in the federal budget a few weeks ago,” wrote climate columnist Adam Radwanski.

Both governments said the deal positions Canada to become a global energy superpower while also meeting climate goals.

The MOU aims to unlock Alberta’s energy sector and diversify export markets. It also opens the door for the construction of a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. Both governments would offer financial supports for the $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage project proposed by the Pathways Alliance of major energy companies. And the deal says the federal government won’t implement its oil and gas emissions cap.

“The really big shift, in substantive policy with nationwide implications, is that Mr. Carney is scrapping or weakening most climate-related regulations implemented by Mr. Trudeau in favour of putting almost all his eggs in the basket of industrial carbon pricing,” Adam wrote.

The agreement suspends clean-electricity regulations for Alberta with the proviso that the province increases its industrial carbon price.

Unsurprisingly, the deal has caused concern among environmentalists and some Indigenous leaders. Coastal First Nations say they’re prepared to challenge any project in the courts.

British Columbia Premier David Eby isn’t excited about the prospect of a new pipeline across his province, but has said he would be more willing to discuss it if the ban on tanker traffic off B.C.’s northern coast remains in place.

And perhaps most notably, former environment minister Steven Guilbeault resigned from the federal cabinet the same day the MOU was signed. Although he was serving as minister of Canadian identity and culture, he was known as the personification of the (previous) Liberals’ efforts to combat climate change and had championed several of the policies now being unravelled.

“He and many other environmental advocates have lamented the change in direction by the Prime Minister, who had previously been recognized as the leading exponent of climate finance,” wrote Jeffrey Jones, The Globe and Mail’s ESG and sustainable finance reporter.

In his analysis, Jeff also reminds readers that these new provisions are in addition to other changes to environmental policies under Carney, such as scrapping the consumer carbon tax, pausing the rollout of the electric-vehicle sales mandate for 2026 and launching a review of the policy.

We’re watching for more news on this change in the intergovernmental relationship and energy plans, but first, Carney will be shuffling his cabinet today to make up for the loss of Guilbeault.

What else you missed

• Alberta oil regulator stopped enforcing gas flaring limits after government pressure, records show
• Weather Network forecasts ‘December to remember,’ with a more typical start to winter
• Death toll from floods in Asia passes 1,000 as scale of disaster revealed

Opinion and analysis

The age of keeping whales and dolphins in captivity must finally come to an end

COP30 is a reminder that the world can’t wait for perfect consensus to act on climate change

Green Investing

What the top growing companies in Western Canada are creating

Report on Business Magazine ranks Canada’s top growing companies, measuring businesses on three-year revenue growth. Now, we’ve launched two inaugural provincial rankings, for British Columbia and Alberta.

Wasp Wildfire of Kelowna, B.C., has seen 393-per-cent growth over three years. The made-in-Canada home protection kit is simple, yes, but not shoddy. And simple is good in a crisis. Veritree from Vancouver has seen 5,390-per-cent growth over three years. It is a climate-tech platform that helps businesses verify, track, measure and expand their investments in nature restoration.

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 COP29 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

• COP30 comes to an end
• What’s the beef?
• COP30 and Canada
• The budget bargain

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