Doomism can be an obstacle to adaptation, not just cutting emissions. Here, a group of us who have worked in small islands states argue that focusing on habitability - what you want to keep and improve, not what you will lose - boosts adaptation efforts. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Pathways Alliance, the oil sands group that blanketed Canada with "we're going to net-zero" ads, now pretends it was formed only to "advance a CO2 emissions strategy and a proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project" (oilsandsalliance.ca/who-we-are/o...). Here's what web site used to say:

The drop in the price battery storage is incredible, joining onshore wind and solar as now cheaper than coal, on average globally. about.bnef.com/insights/cle...

Speaking of heatwaves, this new paper from UBC colleagues analyses a curious aspect of the deadly 2021 heat dome: the timing. It happened near the June solstice, rather than in mid-summer, and the longer daylength contributed to its severity. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

I appreciated playing a tiny part in this great @picscanada.bsky.social explainer video on how extreme weather affects critical infrastructure, and what we can do. It draws on the experience with heat waves, wildfires, and atmospheric river flooding in B.C. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YZJ...

If the economy is so dependent on oil that it requires a war in the Middle East or some other devastating exogenous event to buoy oil prices and come closer to balancing budgets, maybe we're not making the best decisions.

I think you misspelled Bush and Iraq.

One of the biggest obstacles to climate action is "second order" bias: we tend to mistakenly assume other people aren't interested in the subject. From a CBC Kids show:

Hope is form of climate action. I recorded this message for the CBC Kids show "Hope or Nope": www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7WH...

This is the best movie we have seen in quite some time. Hilarious, gonzo, oddly touching in moments. It hits even harder if you are from Toronto, it's like an accidental love letter to the city. Fellow Canadians, please go support local cinema... www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2K9...

Further confirmation that Canada's far off track from its 2030 target. As I mention here, the models tend to overestimate the impact of climate policies, because they represent an idealized world in which policies are fully implemented and work as intended. www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-...

“I think the climate scientists and activists of my generation have done a great disservice to the next generation because we have scared the crap out of them...” @simondonner.bsky.social stresses the importance of hope when it comes to climate change buff.ly/UHMAeQl

Climate change blames individuals when it is big corporations at fault, say teens. @simondonner.bsky.social was one of the experts at the event. www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/pos... via @cbcnews.ca @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca

So glad to see the growing resistance to the unlawful and despicable behaviour of ICE... though melt the ice is a tough rallying cry if you are climate scientist. www.cbc.ca/news/world/r...

Years ago, when a severe storm closed the road to the family cottage, I drove down a distant dirt road I'd never been on, ditched the car, and navigating several miles through a forest and wetland back to the cottage, without a phone, GPS or map. Yet I can't seem to cancel an online subscription.

If you're interested in the implications of the Canada-China deal that cuts tariffs on some Chinese EVs, I recommend this episode of Shift Key heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

Record investment in clean energy last year. Electrified transport, renewable electricity generation and electricity grids accounted for 90% of investment, with transport up 20% despite all the talk in North America of things slowing down. From: about.bnef.com/insights/fin...

Happy International Day of Clean Energy to all who are observant. www.un.org/en/observanc...

Yet more reason to trust projections that global oil demand will soon level off and decline www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Not all waves are created equal. Analysis of #Kiribati’s Tarawa lagoon shorelines show future flooding risk will not be uniform across the atoll based on wave direction line up. oceans.ubc.ca/2026/01/21/n... @simondonner.bsky.social #JuliaMayer @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca

How would the new deal to cut tariffs on up to 49,000 Chinese EVs affect uptake? By my math, in the maximum case, battery EVs would move from 5.5% of sales to 8.1% of sales. This is potentially a *small* start of a much-needed overhaul of EV strategy in Canada. What comes next matters the most.

Because the ocean absorbs >90% of the heat trapped in the climate system due to human enhancement of the greenhouse effect, the best and most steady measure of global warming is the change in ocean heat content. It continues to break records every year:

Warmest years, in order, since records began in 1800s. Seeing a pattern here... 2024 2023 2025 2016 2020 2019 2017 2015 2022 2021 2018 2010 2014 2013 2005 2009 2007 1998 2012 2006 2002 2003 2011 2001

This article speaks some honest and blunt about the future of heavy oil in an electrifying world. Canadians are not being told this nearly enough. calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

"The future economy is electric" - incisive article on why Canada needs to quickly pivot its focus from industries of the past to the industries of tomorrow vancouversun.com/opinion/op-e...

A moment of calm

The Trump Administration's announced withdraw from the IPCC is disappointing, but not surprising. US scientists will continue to play key roles in the @ipcc.bsky.social. A statement from the US Academic Alliance for the IPCC:

If the US "withdraws" from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as stated in the new executive order, what happens to appointed US authors working on the next set of reports? Anyone know?

A truly gonzo Executive Order from the Trump Administration removes US from not just the UN Framework Convention on Climate change, but also the IPCC (!), the IUCN, the IPBES (the IPCC of biodiversity), and all sorts of other organizations. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Seven whole minutes, who has the time

"I couldn't look at myself in the mirror", says climate scientist @simondonner.bsky.social, who is one of the two climate advisors that quit the federal government's Net-Zero Advisory Body. Full interview: youtu.be/x1JYcA9srH4?...

I spoke about the decision to resign from chairing the Net-Zero Advisory Body with As it Happens (9:20 mark of the show). This is the best description of what transpired, including how the Alberta-Canada MOU was cynical, and why I felt I had no choice but to resign. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Personal update -- I resigned from my role at Co-Chair of Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body. The job had been a true honour and privilege, one of the highlights of my professional life. If you're interested in more of an explanation, see my Linked-In page.

The Pathways carbon capture project can work. The issue is the numbers. Trading Pathways for the proposed new pipeline likely leads to a net INcrease in emissions, even when it is fully operational. More to come.

The MOU with Alberta is deeply disappointing. It sacrifices climate policies, places too many eggs in the industrial pricing basket, proposes a pipeline deal that would increase emissions, and would have Canada double-down on fossil fuels at a time the world is moving towards clean energy.

Dr. @simondonner.bsky.social, chair of @NZAB_Canada said COP30 summit laid bare a rift between those participating in “clean energy revolution,” and “countries clinging to a fossil fuel past." www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/27/a...

Nice surprise to be quoted in the Clean BC review.

Recommendations from a mandated review of British Columbia's energy and climate plan. engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/...

Attending COP is like going on a cleanse... the venues are hot, you burn energy walking miles between events, it's hard to find food. So it's like you spend a week or two sweating out all the toxins, literally and figuratively.

Media coverage of UN climate summits is stuck in the past. With Paris in effect, we need to drop the old "COP was a failure/success", and instead use COP, with all the panels, side events and hallway chatter, as way to gauge the state of global climate action. That leads to a very different story.

UN climate summits are a strange hybrid of diplomatic negotiations and a sprawling climate change bazaar. You can learn a lot about the state of climate action from watching the negotiations and from the many concurrent panels and side events. Here are five themes that emerged frequently at #COP30:

RIP to one of the legends. I've been listening to Jimmy Cliff for 40+ years. If you need a soundtrack for today: open.spotify.com/playlist/3SM...

My latest with @simondonner.bsky.social: "As Canada scrambles to diversify its exports, fossil fuels are an increasingly risky bet, not least with taxpayers’ money. And we should not kid ourselves: it is also a bet on global failure to address climate change" www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/21/o...

COP30 has featured heatwaves, floods, and now a fire.

The Pacific Islands pavillion at COP30 just had to close due to flooding. Seriously...

What happens at a UN climate summit? Here's a quick tour of the #COP30 venue to give a sense of the various meetings and activities.

As we near the end of the first week of #COP30, this passage from the current version of the global stocktake text (on progress towards the Paris Agreement goals) captures state of the negotiations:

IPCC chair Jim Skea just said the IPCC is like the El Niño of the climate policy world, in that its reports appear around every seven years. A good line that wouldn't land in most settings. Granted, the key difference between the two is that geopolitics can't delay or alter El Niño events.

Have I ever mentioned that COPs are crowded? People queueing up after an impressive protest blocked the entrance to #COP30.