Environment and Climate Change Canada is considering two options to put a steadily-lowering ‘cap’ on oil and gas sector emissions: a national oil industry cap and trade program, or additional regulations under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act that could result in an industry-specific carbon pricing rate.

In the ruling, which determined the law to be unconstitutional, the Alberta Court of Appeal acknowledged the seriousness of climate change - as well as its evident concern about the law’s potential negative impact on Western Canada’s oil industry.

With the writ dropped for Ontario’s 2022 election on June 2, voters must decide what the next four years of provincial environmental policy will look like. To assist, we’ve outlined some of the key features and differences between the four major parties’ climate and environment plans, and provided a short analysis to illustrate what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s missing in each party’s proposal.

The new plan is to “coast”, in the words of Greenpeace Canada, largely on initiatives either begun by the previous provincial Liberal government (i.e., coal-fired power generation phase-out) or mandated by the current federal Liberal government (i.e., carbon pricing).

The recent 271 page report describes, sector by sector, how Canada’s emissions are being generated, and what policies the federal government - budgeting $9.1 billion in new climate-related spending - is planning or implementing to decarbonize Canada’s economy, with a near term goal of 40-45% emissions reduction (as compared to 2005 levels) by 2030.

In mandate letters sent last week, Prime Minister Trudeau directed Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to “work with provinces and territories to move toward mandatory climate-related financial disclosures based on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures [TCFD] framework.”

At COP26, delegates and other notable persons from the worlds of politics, business, and finance announced various pacts and initiatives, some better received than others. Here is a summary of the conference in 10 points covering its five greatest achievements and five most notable failures.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled his new cabinet Tuesday, naming Steven Guilbeault the new Minister of Environment and Climate Change. A longtime environmental activist, Guilbeault served for several years as spokesman for Greenpeace Quebec, and was co-founder and senior director of Quebec environmental non-profit Équiterre.

If adopted, firms offering public investments would have to disclose greenhouse gas emissions (or explain non-disclosure), as well as governance, strategy, risk management practices, and metrics pertaining to climate-related risks and opportunities.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill Wednesday enshrining into law a goal to make all new passenger vehicles sold or leased in the state zero emission by 2035.