Feds, provinces agree to curb garbage, plastic pollution

Feds, provinces agree to curb garbage, plastic pollution

Canada’s environment ministers want to cut in half the amount of garbage this country produces, in a little over two decades. By 2030, they want to reduce the total amount of waste Canada throws out by 30 per cent; by 2040, they want to cut the quantity by 50 per cent. And as part of a national strategy to curb plastic pollution in particular, Ottawa and the provinces unanimously agreed to work on a plan to have Canada produce no waste plastic at all.

Canadian Grocer

Majority of building projects in Canada are green: study

More than one-third of Canadian respondents to the World Green Building Trends 2018 SmartMarket study currently do the majority of their projects “green” – the highest percentage in North America and fourth-highest worldwide among those who make sustainable building a priority. Thirty-five per cent of Canadian firms participating in the survey say that more than 60 per cent of their projects are green.

Canada Green Building Council

World green building trends in 2018: Green keeps growing

US Green Building Council

USGBC new initiatives and LEED updates from Greenbuild

The Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, presented by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and owned and operated by Informa Exhibitions, concluded last week in Chicago. The theme for this year’s Greenbuild was Human X Nature, representing how the green building movement embraces all of humanity by making sustainable buildings and environments accessible to everyone while benefitting the natural environment all around us.

US Green Building Council

USGBC now offers recertification for all LEED projects

Recertification is now available to all occupied and in-use projects that have previously achieved LEED certification. Over the past 25 years, USGBC has sought to make the communities in which we live, work, learn and play healthier, more resource-efficient and less damaging to our ecosystems. The first step is to earn LEED certification for the way your building is designed, built or operated.

US Green Building Council – BDC Network

Retailers go green, from the roof on down

Family-owned fashion store Simons opened its first net-zero store, designed to generate as much energy as it uses, in March in its Quebec City hometown. The 80,000-square-foot store’s system includes solar panels on the roof and in the parking lot and incorporates a geothermal heating system.

Globe and Mail

Feds help to revitalize Toronto’s waterfront through flood protection

On Wednesday, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, attended a ground-breaking ceremony in Toronto, to mark the start of excavation on a new river valley as part of the Port Lands Flood Protection project. Along with critical infrastructure, this work will create the foundation for a future island community on the waterfront.

Canada Newswire – Globe and Mail

	‘Impossible’ task at post-Paris climate talks
	Three years after sealing a landmark global climate deal in Paris, world leaders are gathering again to agree on the fine print. The euphoria of 2015 has given way to the sober realization that an agreement among almost 200 countries will be challenging.
	Globe and Mail, November 28, 2018

 

Rooming house finds redemption as Passivhaus

Indwell and Invisij Architects are doing incredible work, raising the bar for housing people in need. George and Mary’s Tavern and Rooming House in Hamilton, Ontario was, to put it very mildly, a dump. But Indwell, a local charity is seriously into redemption. They are also seriously into Passivhaus, as we have seen before.

TreeHugger

$200M in carbon tax funds going to small renewable projects

Alberta communities that want to set up their own wind, solar, biomass or hydro power generators can tap into $200 million of carbon tax revenue over the next 20 years. One-quarter of the funding will be earmarked for communities affected by the phase-out of coal-fired electricity plants.

CBC

Where will all of B.C.’s electricity come from?

B.C. is embarking on an unprecedented program of electrification that could see small renewable power projects built across the province, ranging from one-megawatt solar installations to 100-megawatt wind farms and 200-megawatt run-of-river hydroelectric projects. The program, Clean Energy B.C. says it will require a 50-per-cent increase in generating capacity in just 12 years time.

Vancouver Sun

Drilling underway at Saskatchewan $50M geothermal power plant

A major geothermal power plant has broken ground in Saskatchewan, with hopes of generating electricity by spring. The company leading the project, Deep Earth Energy Production Corp. (DEEP), announced drilling has started at the site’s location near Estevan. The drilling will be used mainly for testing purposes to set up a facility that generates five megawatts of clean energy — enough to power about 5,000 houses.

CBC

	CO2 levels hit new record high in 2017: UN
	The UN World Meteorological Organization annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin dashed hopes for a slowdown in emissions of CO2 – the byproduct of burning fossil fuels that scientists say is the main cause of the greenhouse effect causing global warming.
	Reuters, November 28, 2018

 

The climate finance playbook (Part 1): Ceres

As scientists concluded in the recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, avoiding the worst effects of climate change will require an all-hand-on-deck transformation of the global economy.  Technology developments in energy efficiency, clean energy, and zero-emissions transportation are quickly evolving and require capital.

Ceres.org

The Natural Capital Finance Alliance’s launches the ENCORE Tool

The Natural Capital Finance Alliance introduced a new web-based tool today called Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure (ENCORE). Designed for global banks, investors, and insurance firms, the tool helps financial institutions assess the risks that environmental degradation causes for them.

Environmental Leader

Quebec group sues feds over climate change

A Quebec group is taking the groundbreaking step of bringing climate action into the courts by launching a legal battle against Ottawa for violating the rights of young people by failing to tackle climate change. The environmental group is initiating a lawsuit on behalf of nearly 3.5 million Quebeckers at or below the age of 35 – the cohort that, it argues, faces the most dire consequences of global warming.

Globe and Mail – CBC

Britain’s climate protests: ‘We are rebelling on behalf of life itself’

As consumers all over the world scrambled to buy discounted goods in the Black Friday sales, campaigners from a newly formed civic society group in the United Kingdom took to the streets of London to protest against their government’s failure to act on climate change—and are urging citizens in other countries to do the same. Extinction Rebellion (ER), a mass civil disobedience group in the style of the Occupy movement, has been protesting since 31 October. 

Eco-Business

	George Monbiot calls for private sufficiency
	George Monbiot makes the case that it is better to have magnificent public parks than big private backyards. Sufficiency is the concept that you pick the right tool for the job
	TreeHugger, November 28, 2018

 

Products, Technology and Design

Biophilic design: What is it? Why it matters? And how do we use it?

How do you feel hiking in the mountains or running along the seashore? Do the vast ocean, lush forests, and rapid creeks put you in awe or at ease? Does spending a few minutes outside impact your mood? Nature used to be all around us. Technically, it still is, though the quality of the nature that surrounds us has changed.

BDC Network

Market trends and research

Global green cement market expected to reach $42B by 2025

The global green cement market was valued at US$15.6 billion in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.3% to increase to US$42.7 billion by 2025. The process for the production of cement is the major concern for carbon dioxide pollution and other harmful air pollutants. Thus, green cement is the key material for this problem which is manufactured using the carbon-negative manufacturing process.

Globe Newswire

Municipal Policy and Urban Issues

A ‘circular economy’ appeals to cities

Renting a pair of jeans, working on an abandoned houseboat renovated as an office, or living in a portable home made from a shipping container – these are just a few ways residents of the Dutch capital Amsterdam can play their part to save the planet. Three years ago, the city launched a quest to become a “circular economy” – reusing products and materials, and minimizing waste – by 2050.

CS Monitor

Commercial real estate

Google to secure PPA for new data center in Denmark

Google is aggressively pursuing the expansion of its presence in Europe, in an effort to capitalize on the availability of vast natural and renewable resources in the northern part of the continent. The company recently announced its plans to set up a data center in Denmark, the company’s fifth data center in Europe.

Energy Manager Today

Renewable Energy

Saskatchewan, P.E.I. best places to install solar panels

Installing solar panels already makes sense for most homeowners in Saskatchewan and Ontario but the National Energy Board says the abundance of cheap hydroelectricity in Quebec and Manitoba means solar power may never make much economic sense in those provinces. In Canada, long, dark winters means it’s unlikely solar will ever become the sole source of electricity anywhere.

Halifax ChronicleHerald – Canada Newswire

Aviva invests $680M in Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm project

Aviva Investors is investing $680 million Cdn to help build the Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm project in the UK. In September, Danish energy firm Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) agreed to sell 50% of the 1,218MW offshore wind farm to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in a $7.59 billion deal.

IPE Real Assets

Government Programs and Incentives

Climate may force millions to move and U.S. isn’t ready

Global warming may push millions of Americans away from the coast, and the U.S. isn’t prepared for the consequences of such a mass migration, scientists from across the federal government warned on Friday. “Sea level rise might reshape the U.S. population distribution,” the scientists wrote in a sweeping report on climate change.

Bloomberg

Trump rejects findings of climate change report

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday rejected projections that climate change will cause severe economic harm to the U.S. economy, findings outlined by a report his own U.S. government published last week. The congressionally mandated report said that climate change will cost the country’s economy billions of dollars by the end of the century.

Globe and Mail – Reuters

B.C. intervenes in greenhouse fight between provinces

The British Columbia government says it will intervene in separate court cases in Saskatchewan and Ontario where those provinces are challenging federal authority to pass legislation that puts a minimum price on greenhouse gas pollution. B.C. Attorney General David Eby says the province intends to argue federal and provincial governments share a role in addressing climate change.

CBC

Cities and Towns

Pollution so bad in London people are moving out

Schools are also fundraising to supply face masks for children. Recently there was yet another study showing how pollution from diesel-fuel-spewing vehicles was more harmful than anyone thought; the latest study of 2,000 school children in London shows that it stunts the growth of children’s lungs. Prof Chris Griffiths, at Queen Mary University of London tells the Guardian.

TreeHugger

Water Management

2019 Keeling Curve Prize recognizes dynamic global warming solutions

Exceptional projects that tackle global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions or increasing carbon uptake are invited to apply for the 2019 Keeling Curve Prize. Ten projects will share $250,000 in prize money, and join a supportive network that offers contacts and advice, and opens doors to partnerships and additional funding.

Canada Newswire

Waste Management

Saint John recycling facility shut down after multiple explosions

The New Brunswick government has ordered an explosion-plagued metal recycling facility at the Port of Saint John to cease all operations immediately. The American Iron & Metal Company Inc. has been the scene of numerous explosions in recent weeks.

Globe and Mail