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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
The Globe surveyed young Canadians on subjects such as housing, work and gender earlier this year. Their answers revealed a disheartening pessimism about the world around them – and the future. They expressed distrust for institutions and leaders who, they said in interviews, either ignored them or failed to prioritize long-term solutions to problems that would affect them the most, such as climate change.
“Climate change and global conflict scare me, but people not caring about it scares me more,” said Hannah Zilke, a 19-year-old university student.
Young Canadians are fearful about the future. But underneath their existential angst lies an unexpected resilience. Read the the full story today: Gen Z spells it out.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
Hannah Zilke, 19, in Calgary on Sat., Oct. 21, 2023, has chosen to delete social media from her devices, saying it’s not made for people.Jude Brocke/The Globe and Mail
Noteworthy reporting this week:
- Rehabilitation: Aviva joins Wild + Pine in habitat rehabilitation project in Alberta
- Analysis: With plans for oil and gas emissions cap, Ottawa calls industry’s bluff
- Carbon pricing: Canada proposes minimum 20-23 per cent emissions cut from oil and gas sector, industry to pay for additional offsets. Also, Ottawa announced plans for a cap-and-trade system to cut oil and gas emissions, but targets were lower than expected
- Real estate: Why zero is a mark of success in sustainable schools
- Oil and gas: ‘A true seat at the table’: Why an Indigenous group wants an ownership stake in the TMX pipeline
- Bugs: Students turn creepy crawlies into tasty treats at Great UBC Bug Bake Off
- In-depth with The Narwhal: Farmers are at the centre of Canada’s latest carbon pricing debate
A deeper dive
Canadians are bracing themselves to deal with continuing rising premiums – and it’s only going to get worse
Clare O’Hara is a wealth management and insurance reporter for The Globe. For this week’s deeper dive, she talks about natural disasters and home insurance.
Earlier this summer, as the number of wildfires began to increase across Canada, we started to hear that home insurance prices would feel the impact. Large U.S insurers announced they would no longer offer new home policies in high-risk states. It got us asking, could that happen here in Canada?
What became clear is that while Canadian insurers are committed to offering home insurance, flood insurance is an add-on policy that only about 40 to 60 per cent of Canadians have. Ten per cent of Canadians – 1.5 million homes – can’t get flood insurance because they live in high-risk areas.
During a visit to Nova Scotia, I was surprised when homeowners told similar stories of not fully understanding what is and isn’t covered – until their claim was denied.
Many told me they had expressed they wanted the “maximum coverage” for all natural disasters to their insurers. But they were not made aware that the way water enters your home is a major factor on whether a claim will be approved. For example, if water comes into your home from the roof or window during a storm, versus your basement flooding when that same storm causes a river or brook to surge.
One interview that really stood out to me was Saba Alam and one of his neighbors.
When I met them outside of Alam’s house, I could still see piles of debris beside most of the homes on the street. They both spoke about the terrifying night when the storm had quickly filled their basements. When Alam fled with his wife and two children, the water was up to his knees on the street and the car was filling with water.
Neither Alam nor his neighbour knew they had bought homes that were in a flood plain, but both were insured for flood. At the time, Alam was still waiting for his payment to begin reconstruction. Unfortunately, the neighbour’s claim was denied as the policy was only for above-ground water and not for water that entered through the basement. He has hired a lawyer – as have many other homeowners who feel that the interpretation of the language is not clear and that insurers need to increase the education provided when selling such products.
- Clare
Plus, Listen to The Decibel: Why climate change is driving up the cost of your insurance
Lights shine from Al Wasl dome at Expo City at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Sun., Dec. 10, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Peter Dejong/The Associated Press
COP28 this week
Opinion: The highs and lows so far as the climate event goes into its final, frenetic days
The annual UN climate conferences are always high on drama and low on progress, let alone breakthroughs, until they go into overtime at the end of their second week. The COP28 climate jamboree in Dubai, which began Nov. 30, did not deviate much from the familiar playbook, which is not to say it lacked memorable moments – some dubious, some worthy of restrained applause. Herewith Eric Reguly’s list of the highs and lows so far.
- COP28 clashes over fossil fuel phase-out after OPEC pushback
- After a fast start, COP28 climate talks now in murky middle of hope, roadblocks
- As fossil fuel executives descend on UN climate summit, some ask ‘what are COPs about?’
- Activists stage rare UAE politics protest during COP28 climate summit
- Negotiators at COP28 urged to narrow focus to reach agreement on how to save Earth as clock winds down on climate talks
- Azerbaijan tipped to host COP29 climate talks
A woman attends a protest for climate justice and a ceasefire in Gaza during COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 9, 2023.AMR ALFIKY/Reuters
What else you missed
- Federal, provincial governments veto $1.5-million bid to relaunch oil exploration off Nova Scotia
- ‘That mountain is shaking’: First-of-its-kind assessment considers Indigenous stories
- Britain bans some airline adverts over ‘misleading’ environmental claims
- Saskatchewan’s methane emissions underestimated, rate of releases high: research
- Environmentalists pin satirical Fossil of the Day award on Alberta at climate meeting
Opinion and analysis
Konrad Yakabuski: Canada moves to the forefront in the new age of nuclear power
Marvin Shaffer, John Richards, Curtis Eaton: Revenues from the carbon tax should be funding adaptation measures
Gary Mason: An inconvenient truth – the carbon tax helps more than it hurts
The editorial board: The start of a climate success story
Jessica Scott-Reid: Beware the rise of ‘conservation washing’ – the latest gambit to keep animals in captivity
Green Investing
Connor Teskey of Brookfield is ROB Magazine's corporate citizen of the year for 2023.The Globe and Mail
ROB Magazine: Corporate Citizen of the Year
There are two things you should know about Connor Teskey’s philosophy for investing in the climate transition. His first rule is that he accepts no discount on investment returns simply because Brookfield’s decarbonization goals could be good for the planet. Second, from time to time, Brookfield makes big investments in heavy emitters to help them start the process of turning over a new leaf.
Read the full story: Teskey is moving the needle on the energy transition (and making money, too).
- Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods sets ambitious agenda on tight timeline
- Markets: Has the shine come off sustainable ETFs?
- More ESG-driven investors may be reconsidering defence companies amid threats to democracy
Photo of the week
Felled trees are stacked along a road on Dec. 9, 2023, in La Teste-de-Buch, France, more than a year after a wildfire ravaged the area in the summer of 2022.THIBAUD MORITZ/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 and just generally how Canada will change because of climate change.
- We have ways to make your travelling more sustainable, and 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
- Young people want a seat at the COP28 table
- Ottawa to announce new methane regulations, funding heading into COP28
- Research shows that forests are essential to Canadian climate pledges
- Canada’s lost opportunity to finance the critical minerals revolution
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