It’s time for Canada to enter true climate emergency mode! What would that look like?  
GASPs - share the video (6 min) far and wide!

The Climate Emergency Unit is meeting with government officials to introduce this framework and the policies needed to achieve real emergency scale action on climate change. Share this video with your family, friends and local decision makers. Politicians and bureaucrats will not move into emergency mode unless we force them. It’s imperative that, together, we repeat our desire for a livable, just future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUJw5cLyfEk

'Canada Dry': Hot, dry weather expected throughout Canada this summer as B.C. grapples with heatwave

B.C. has been experiencing hotter average seasonal temperatures as a heatwave in the U.S. moves north, with temperatures culminating at 37 C this week in parts of the interior. "We've heard so much about the southwestern heatwave in the States," said Dave Phillips, Environment and Climate Change Canada senior climatologist. "That same pressure pattern, that ridge, is flowing northward, and just capturing many parts of southern British Columbia.”  Temperatures could be up to 10 degrees above seasonal averages until Monday. Read more.

 Why politicians need to adopt an “emergency mode” mentality. Follow the science. 
IPCC steps up warning on climate tipping points
in leaked draft report

The stark message from the IPCC is that increasingly severe heatwaves, fires, floods and droughts are coming our way with dire impacts for many countries. On top of this are some irreversible changes, often called tipping points, such as where high temperatures and droughts mean parts of the Amazon rainforest can’t persist. These tipping points may then link, like toppling dominoes.

“This is a fixable problem. We could stop global warming in a generation if we wanted to, which would mean limiting future warming to not much more than has happened already this century,” said Myles Allen, a professor of geosystem science at the University of Oxford.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/23/climate-change-dangerous-thresholds-un-report

Amazing Collaboration!
A green wall is being built along the width of Africa

Great Green Wall will be the
largest living structure on the planet

The Great Green Wall is an African-led movement with an epic ambition to grow an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of Africa. A decade in and roughly 15% underway, the initiative is already bringing life back to Africa’s degraded landscapes at an unprecedented scale, providing food security, jobs and a reason to stay for the millions who live along its path. The Wall promises to be a compelling solution to threats not only facing the African Continent, but the global community as a whole – climate change, drought, famine, conflict and migration. 

Watch video - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=790940468476406

Top International lawyers unveil definition of Ecocide

Commissioned by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, an expert drafting panel of 12 renowned international criminal and environmental lawyers from around the world has concluded six months of deliberations.  The result: a legal definition of “ecocide” as a potential 5th international crime, to sit alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. 

“Ecocide” means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage
to the environment being caused by those acts.  

Read more.

We're all getting on a call, logging into google maps and giving atrocious reviews to as many RBC branches as we can find. Great chance to meet  other people who are worried about climate change in a not-too-serious event with a serious goal: informing everyone that RBC has pumped over 200 BILLION into fossil fuels since the Paris Accord was signed in 2016.  The event is being organized and hosted by Climate Pledge Collective, For Our Kids TO and members of GASP. We will likely host other bad review parties for other banks. TD is next on the list!  Register here.

Note - Some GASPs will be attending the Halton Region zoom meeting on growth options - 7 pm on June 29. You can log onto google maps and write some reviews on your own time if you miss this meeting at 8 pm. 

Ford Watch 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the charter and what’s at stake

Doug Ford used his majority to pass Bill 307, an Act that was called “Defending Democracy” but in truth muzzled critics’ advertising for a year before an election. This abusive legislation, itself apparently retroactive, was rammed through without public notice or consultation, as if responding to an emergency. We ARE facing multiple emergencies, including the climate crisis, ecosystem collapse and devastating inequality. Ford has slammed a retroactive muzzle on any interest group, such as trusted environmental charities, who want  to tell voters what is at stake. Ford has repeated the pattern over and over, defying legal obligations, muzzling the public and giving himself and his government immunity. He flagrantly ignores the Environmental Bill of Rights. Article by Dianne Saxe in the National Observer - read more. 

Decarbonizing Transportation - Hopes & Challenges

Rolls-Royce sets out plans to decarbonise aviation engines as part of net-zero drive

British engineering firm Rolls-Royce has laid out how it will achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, including modifying its jet engines to run on renewable fuels. The company will begin introducing jet engines that can run on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in 2023, although it only expects the new fuels to make up 10 per cent of total consumption by 2030. "We are announcing plans to make all our new products compatible with net-zero by 2030, and all our products in operation compatible by 2050," said Rolls-Royce, which is the world's third-biggest supplier of jet engines. It also produces power systems for the shipping industry and the energy sector.  Read more.

A life-cycle view on EV battery opportunities and risks

The electrification of transportation carries significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential for the development of new industries in Canada. However, appropriate regulatory frameworks are needed to avoid important environmental trade-offs around the process. The development of a national extended producer responsibility regime for end-of-life EV batteries, clarification of their status under waste management regulations, and the establishment of basic reporting requirements regarding their fate would be important places to start.

Article by Mark Winfield, co-chair of the Sustainable Energy Initiative, York University in The Hill Times - June 16, 2016

From Mines to Electric Vehicles: 
How to ensure electrification isn’t a mining disaster

To tackle the climate emergency, we must electrify most, if not all, of the transportation sector. To enable a green and just economic recovery, governments must prioritize strategies that will reduce both greenhouse gases (GHGs) and the environmental footprint of natural resource use.

1. Reduce personal automobile use
Electric or not, the average personal vehicle contains the equivalent of 10,000 cell phones in minerals and materials. Add to that all the materials needed to build and maintain the network of roads and highways. Canada must not only invest in recycling and the circular economy of metals and minerals used in transportation, but also tackle the unsustainable growth in the number of vehicles on our roads.

2. Develop an environmental framework for mining
In 2017, Environment and Climate Change Canada revealed that 76% of Canadian metal mines were having negative impacts on water and aquatic ecosystems. In 2019, the Commissioner for the Environment and Sustainable Development’s report deplored the major gaps in the application of environmental laws governing mining pollution. In short, the environmental credibility of the growing fleet of batteries and electric cars depends on significant changes to industrial mining. It is not acceptable to avoid taking action on needed reforms while pointing the finger at China and other countries with poor environmental records, a strategy often used by the mining industry here. Read more.

Social Justice

75% of World’s Mining Companies are based in Canada

The Canadian mining industry is beginning to get a reputation for being the most environmentally destructive and least compliant with human rights. An older article by Dave Dean but shows reach of Canadian mining industry. Read more.

Canada needs to step up its human rights, with shift to emerging energy technologies and Canadian extractive sector: KAIROS Canada

Canada needs to step up on human rights, with the shift to emerging energy technologies, especially as it is poised to benefit from them. With the demand of “sustainable” technology, like electric vehicles, expected to rise, Canada is already presenting itself as a primary source of minerals needed for their development. The Canadian extractive sector, however, is mired by allegations of human rights and environmental abuses. The installation of man camps introduces a host of social, economic, health, and political issues in Indigenous communities. What is more, Indigenous women, gender diverse people, and children are particularly impacted by environmental damages linked to extractive companies, such as water and soil pollution and destruction of habitats.

Gabriela Jiménez, Latin America partnerships coordinator at KAIROS Canada, June 23, 2021, The Hill Times

Activists up pressure on Trans Mountain pipeline with worldwide protest against its insurers

Friday marked the end of a global week of action against insurers of Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion project. The protests, calling on its insurers to cut ties with the federally owned pipeline, spanned 25 actions across four continents. “Even if the insurers don't completely bail out this year, every year they have to renew, so there's always tomorrow. And we'll keep pushing. We're not going anywhere, we live here, and they're attacking us,” said 350 organizer Andrew Larigakis, from outside Liberty’s office in Vancouver.  “It is vital to divest for the survival of our resident orca whales. We will fight for our lands, waters and people until we win,” said Cedar George-Parker, a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Tulalip Tribes, in a statement.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/06/21/news/world-against-trans-mountain-pipeline

• An 8-year-old girl challenges the ethics of a global organization.
• A renegade farmer struggles to keep his land as he revolutionizes resource-efficient agriculture.
• A visionary inventor faces catastrophe in the midst of developing a game-changing technology.

   The Four W’s - Warmer, Wetter, Windier & Wilder 

In case you missed this webinar about how Climate Change will impact the Oakville environment, people and properties and what you can do to better prepare yourself - watch here:  https://oakvilleready.ca

Petitions

Summer Viewing, Listening, Reading

Netflix: ‘Breaking Boundaries” 

From Lorraine: Rod and I watched “Breaking Boundaries” on Netflix with Johan Rockstrom. It’s a “must see” documentary... so well explained.

Podcasts: What on earth - https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-429-what-on-earth

Every episode provides insights on climate change solutions and challenges. Did you know that the “carbon footprint” concept was created by Exxon Mobil to deflect the responsbility for oil and gas pollution onto you, the user? Listen here. 

Books

Bill Gates, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need.
Lynne Quarmby, Watermelon Snow
Mark Jaccard, The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success: Overcoming myths that hinder progress
 

Why ‘All We Can Save’ Will Make You Feel Hopeful
About the Climate Crisis

Anthology offers solutions, encouragement, and an invitation to join the movement. All We Can Save, an anthology co-edited by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson, is a compilation of essays and poems by some 50 climate leaders who run the gamut when it comes to age, race, geography, and experience — including scientists, artists, poets, lawyers, architects, activists, and designers. Taken together, the breadth of their voices forms a mosaic that honors the complexity of the climate crisis like few, if any, books on the topic have done yet.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/all-we-can-save-book-climate-ayana-johnson-katharine-wilkinson-1062310/