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This week: Standing starkers against geothermal in Japan, one of Canada’s Big Five banks goes to bat for carbon pricing, and in the wake of the U.K.’s devastating departure, global climate and energy leaders endeavor to “keep calm and carry on.”

Will Brexit Set Back Global Progress on Climate and Clean Energy?

It’s Monday, and the world’s climate and clean energy leaders are still grappling with the potential fallout of the most dramatic political upset since the breakup of the Soviet Union. The United Kingdom has been a longstanding global climate leader—and as a European Union member state, had committed to help the EU deliver on its Paris Agreement pledge to cut emissions 40 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2030. That commitment could well now be reopened, as shifting borders resculpt obligations and threaten to fray the very fabric of the deal. Further, whomever replaces Prime Minister Cameron may have a very different approach to domestic climate and energy policy—especially if the U.K. sinks into recession, as many economic analysts expect, or splinters. Despite the chaos, “the U.K. has strong national climate laws, and there is no mandate or majority from this vote to unpick them,” E3G’s chief executive noted. What is clear is that everyone has an opinion, and uncertainty is clouding the picture like a London fog. Politico offers a run-down of what’s at stake, while Scientific American sums up initial reactions.
2. Royal Bank of Canada Pronounces Carbon Pricing Essential Policy

“This is our Apollo mission if we seize the moment; it could be our Titanic if we don’t.” That was John Stackhouse, senior VP at Royal Bank of Canada. He endorsed a carbon price—paired with regulations and public investments—as key to Canada’s low-carbon future.
3. Why Leach "Second-Guessed" the Contents of Alberta's Climate Report 

In a candid Maclean’s article, the former chair of Alberta’s climate action panel critiqued his team’s own report. Economist and policy advisor Andrew Leach said the panel should have worked harder to explain how and why carbon pricing works in its recommendations.

Andrew Leach and Shannon Phillips

4. Musk SolarCity Offer Would Bring Rooftop Generation into the Tesla Fold

Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors offered to buy PV panel seller SolarCity, where he serves as chairman. If the deal goes through, Tesla would be in a position to not only offer Americans cars and batteries, but also a means to power them—the sunshine hitting their rooftops.
5. Smith & Smith: British Columbia Should Build its Low-Carbon Advantage

Clean Energy Canada’s Merran Smith teamed up with Marcia Smith, a senior VP with Teck Resources, to explain in The Globe and Mail how how strong, renewed, and thoughtful climate leadership can help British Columbia retain and build on its “low-carbon advantage.”
6. Communal Bathers Thwart Japan’s Geothermal Ambitions

Japan has the world’s third-largest geothermal reserve—an estimated 23 GW worth. But just two per cent is being used, and few proposals are in the works. That’s largely because the resource is largely inside parks, and the communal bathing lobby wants them left alone.
7.  Ontario Needs More Than a Price on Carbon to Shift Economy

Broadbent Institute Policy Fellow Brendon Haley mounted a compelling defence of Ontario’s climate leadership plan, and explained why carbon pricing alone will not shift the province into a low-carbon economy. Ontario’s “bigger basket” approach is right on, he argues.
8. Feds Might Support New B.C.-Alberta Link, Trudeau Suggests

Prime Minister Trudeau hinted Ottawa would consider supporting a new transmission link between British Columbia and Alberta that would help the prairie province’s coal phase-out. B.C. Premier Christy Clark has launched “exploratory” talks with the feds and Alberta.
9. Tackling Range Anxiety From Both Directions

Automakers are working alongside provincial governments to reduce range anxiety—the main barrier preventing wider adoption of electric vehicles. Manufacturers are beefing up batteries in models to boost range, while governments are investing in charging stations.
10. Obama Advisory Team Sees Bigger Role for Renewables

A report by President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers found that, even though the variable nature of wind and solar generation remains a challenge, renewables stand to grow in scale thanks to demand response innovations and the proliferation of new storage technologies.

IMAGES
Keep Calm and Carry On imagery: Tom Malavoda, Flickr. | Andrew Leach and Shannon Phillips: Screenshot via BOE Report | Onsen hot springs image: Kevin McKelvey, Flickr. | Transmission line image: Valard LP, Flickr.

Did you miss last week’s Clean Energy Review? Catch up here.
Clean Energy Review is sponsored in part by Genus Capital Management, a leading provider of fossil-fuel-free investments. 
Coming Attractions

FRONT BURNER: On June 26 T’sou-ke Solar Community Tour will be hosted by Victoria Wilderness Committee in Sooke, B.C.

August 22-24: International Conference & Exhibition on Clean Energy, hosted by McGill University in Montreal, QC.

September 9-11: Alberta’s Green Energy Doors Open 2016, hosted by Ontario Sustainable Energy Association in partnership with Decentralised Energy Canada, in Calgary and Edmonton.

September 28-29: Alberta Power Symposium, hosted by The Canadian Institute in Calgary, AB.

Clean Energy Review is a weekly digest of climate and clean energy news and insight from across Canada and around the world—plus a peek over the horizon. It is curated by Dan Woynillowicz and written by James Glave, principal of Glave Communications. If you received this from a friend, you can subscribe yourself here.

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