Climate Change

Our changing climate poses a severe threat to both human wellbeing and that of the many animals, plants and insects that inhabit our planet. The Sierra Club Canada Foundation works on both the national and the local level to reduce greenhouse gasses and to promote sustainable energy practices.

Beyond Coal Atlantic

The Beyond Coal Atlantic project launched in December 2020 with an ambitious goal: to get Atlantic Canada off coal and biomass energy as quickly as possible and transition to clean renewable energy. Many of the solutions already exist—such as wind, solar, and existing hydro from Quebec—but what’s been lacking is political and corporate will. 

Native Grasslands Are Our Past and Our Future

        Only a few hundred years ago, much of North America was covered by grasses reaching up to 10 feet tall, while wildflowers, lichens, liverworts and other plant life flourished below. Tens of millions of bison grazed the land, wildfires maintained balance between native grasses and encroaching woody plants and trees, and grassland birds soared above. Native prairie grasslands which are comprised of a mix of tall-grass, mixed-grass, and short-grass prairie, stretched hundreds of millions of acres from Alberta to Manitoba.

Sierra Club Canada Foundation joins Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign

Sierra Club Canada Foundation's Ontario Chapter has joined a coalition of over 125 groups across Ontario in calling upon candidates in the upcoming provincial election to treat climate change as an emergency.

This election is critical for Ontario and for Canada. Now more than ever, we need strong action and leadership on climate change. 

The Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign encourages diverse groups from every sector to urgently work together towards our shared climate action goals.

Our Journey Together to Canada’s New National Urban Parks

NUP Press Conference

Our local Sierra Club Canada team was honoured to be invited to Edmonton City Hall for the recent announcement by the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Canada’s Minister of Tourism and MP for Edmonton Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. Minister Boissonnault formally announced the beginning of the pre-feasibility phase for a new National Urban Park proposed in the greater Edmonton area.

Field Notes from a Citizen Scientist

I live a few hundred metres from the Queensway in Ottawa, and have long wondered about the air quality in the neighbourhood. Is my proximity to the highway and a major feeder road bad for my health? Ottawa is quite green, but is the air quality okay? After reading about the Breathe Easy campaign in an Ottawa Citizen article, I put my hand up to get involved. After a quick tutorial by the friendly local coordinator, Jake Cole, I set out to take some readings, and made a few observations along the way:

Decade of Change 2020 - 2030

It was in 2013, eight years ago when the carbon monitoring station in Mauna Loa measured levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at levels above 400 parts per million for the first time in human history. Since then, investigations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ascertain that we cannot let the atmosphere reach 430 parts per million of carbon dioxide to avoid global warming beyond 1.5 degrees, at which point there will be far reaching consequences for life on earth.

Open Letter: Stop Gull Island

October 13, 2021

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Premiers of Atlantic Canada, and Elected Leaders, 

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals are calling on you as elected leaders to oppose the construction of the Gull Island mega-hydro project (Phase 2 of Nalcor’s Lower Churchill Project) and to protect the Grand River/Mistashipu (colonially known as Churchill River) in Labrador and other endangered rivers across the country.

Ontario Forest Under Attack

By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan.

In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.

One of the most important environmental battles now going on in Ontario is a debate in the council chambers of Chatham-Kent to decide if the municipality is to have a tree cutting by-law. A temporary by-law has been imposed, but it is scheduled to be lifted on December 14, 2021.

Un article de Gérard Montpetit sur les stratégies juridiques des compagnies pétrolières

Un article percutant sur les stratégies des pétrolières afin de promouvoir leurs intérêts au détriment de l’acceptabilité sociale, de la santé et du bien commun des citoyens.

L’auteur, Monsieur Montpetit, membre du CCCPEM (Comité des citoyens et citoyennes pour la protection de l’environnement maskoutain), nous dévoile les procédés déconcertants de ces compagnies gazières et pétrolières, qui n’hésitent pas à utiliser de manière abusive les tribunaux afin de réduire les opposants au silence.

An article by Gérard Montpetit on the legal strategies of oil companies

A powerful article on the strategies of oil companies to promote their interests at the expense of social acceptability, health and citizens' common good.

The author, Mr. Montpetit, a member of the CCCPEM (Comité des citoyens et citoyennes pour la protection de l'environnement maskoutain), reveals the disconcerting procedures of these oil and gas companies, which do not hesitate to use the courts in an abusive manner in order to silence opponents.

Canada's Prairie Pothole Region

The Canadian Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) encompasses 467,000km² of wetland and grassland area stretching from Alberta’s Rocky Mountain foothills to Manitoba’s Red River Valley. The appearance of these ‘pothole’ structured wetlands, were formed by the movement of glaciers across North America, where the ice melted into the pools that are now the potholes wetlands we have today. The formation of the pothole region took tens of thousands of years during the Wisconsin glaciation period.

Trouble in the Atlantic Bubble

One of the many things the pandemic has shown us is just how interconnected we are with people, not only in this region, but around the globe. A virus can easily spread from one hemisphere to another in a matter of hours. The consequences, as we know, can be tragic. What’s less publicized is just how interconnected we are when it comes to the environment. Slowly, people are waking up to the reality of climate change, the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and the extinction of many species.

5 Myths That Delay Climate Action in Nova Scotia (and other places too!)

Q Have you ever found yourself saying to someone, "Hey, we should really get going on renewable energy in our province."

And they respond with "We don't get enough sun for solar" or "We burn trees for biomass to generate electricity and they grow back eventually..." 

Well, enough with the guesswork and misinformation! Let's nip those myths in the bud (pun intented).