Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron Are Taking on Climate Change Together

It was last June that the US, the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, announced it was leaving the Paris Climate Accord.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, says goodbye
 to French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting
 at the Elysee Palace in Paris, April 16, 2018.

Now, the leaders of Canada and France are joining forces to combat climate change together.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris on Monday to confirm a partnership in the fight against climate change.

The countries agreed to work more closely on tackling targets laid out in the Paris Agreement, according to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Read the story by Jackie Marchildon from Global Citizen - “Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron Are Taking on Climate Change Together.”

Stop swooning over Justin Trudeau. The man is a disaster for the planet

Donald Trump is so spectacularly horrible that it’s hard to look away – especially now that he’s discovered bombs. But precisely because everyone’s staring gape-mouthed in his direction, other world leaders are able to get away with almost anything. Don’t believe me? Look one country north, at Justin Trudeau.

Justin Trudeau - But when it comes to the
 defining issue of our day, climate change,
he’s a brother to the fat old guy in DC.’ 

Look all you want, in fact – he sure is cute, the planet’s only sovereign leader who appears to have recently quit a boy band. And he’s mastered so beautifully the politics of inclusion: compassionate to immigrants, insistent on including women at every level of government. Give him great credit where it’s deserved: in lots of ways he’s the anti-Trump, and it’s no wonder Canadians swooned when he took over.

But when it comes to the defining issue of our day, climate change, he’s a brother to the old orange guy in Washington. 

Read Bill McKkibben’s story on The Guardian - “Stop swooning over Justin Trudeau. The man is a disaster for the planet.”

Climate change on leaders' minds this week

Climate change will be on some of the best minds in the country this week.

First, the ArcticNet’s Annual Scientific Meeting will be held at the RBC Convention Centre, starting Monday. Secondly, the city’s executive policy committee is expected to get an update from its climate change committee Wednesday. And, perhaps most importantly, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will host a First Ministers meeting in Ottawa, where the controversial carbon tax will be discussed, on Friday.

“I am pleased to be meeting again with Premiers – in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration – to discuss how we can work together now to build a greener, more secure, and more sustainable future for our children and grandchildren,” Trudeau said in a government release. “Together, we can safeguard the environment and spur innovative economic growth that will lead to more well-paid jobs for the middle class and more opportunities for all Canadians.”

But Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister plans to go his own way.

Read the Winnipeg Sun story - “Climate change on leaders' minds this week.”

Canada lets the states lead on climate, should Australia do the same?

Canada's Justin Trudeau is
showing Australia a "thing
or two" with his
climate change plans.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed Australia a thing or two when he announced a new climate change plan last week – and not just because it was delivered impeccably in two languages. Trudeau has decided to leave climate policy to the provinces, while forcing them to act.

Is this state-based approach a model for Australia?

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t seem keen. He recently blasted state-based renewable energy schemes, linking them to South Australia’s power outage and saying national approaches were best.

But here’s the thing: if Turnbull doesn’t boost his climate policies soon, a state-based system of climate policies is exactly what Australia will have. And unlike Canada, no one will be in charge of it.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Research Fellow with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI) at the University of Melbourne, Cathy Alexander - “Canada lets the states lead on climate, should Australia do the same?”

Pretending the economy trumps the environment is wrong: Trudeau



Justin Trudeau

Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said:

‘Pretending that we have to choose between the economy and the environment is as harmful as it is wrong.’

Alberta's NDP imposes economy-wide carbon tax

A

lberta’s NDP government is imposing an economy-wide carbon tax starting in 2017 and a cap on emissions from the oil sands in a sweeping plan aimed at showing it is serious about fighting climate change.

Alberta Premier, Rachel Notley.

Premier Rachel Notley’s strategy – a major shift in environmental policy for Canada’s largest oil-producing province – will take centre stage as Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gather in Ottawa on Monday for a first ministers’ meeting to craft a strategy for the coming Paris climate talks.

Canada will be heading to the UN-sponsored summit with a limited national strategy and carbon rules that vary widely between provinces. The Prime Minister is facing pressure from environmentalists to set national standards, but may also risk push back from the premiers if he does so.

Read The Globe and Mail story - “Alberta carbon plan a major pivot in environmental policy.”