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.

Protest kicks the COP30 facility on Friday morning. It is being treated very respectfully, as far as I can tell.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

For years, people argued that there's no point in taking climate action unless China is onboard. I'm at a COP30 event where Chinese government officials and renewable industry reps are outlining the fast-paced renewable energy transition and long-term carbon neutrality plan. The story has flipped.

For all of the justified critiques of the expanding and often frustrating UN climate summits, there is something beautiful about watching melange of people in the hallways, with folks in all manner of traditional clothing walking next to western technocrats in business suits. #COP30

One of the great ironies of COPs is that they often seem to be held in uncomfortably warm conference centres. It's like the temperature inside is a signal of the state of the climate negotiations.

A large country sending zero official delegates is rare... and a deeply weird choice. Governments opposing the UN climate negotiations usually still send delegates, if only to disrupt the process and limit the outcome. Sending nobody allows other countries to control the outcome.

There's no official American delegation to COP30. There are still Americans in attendance, as observers from non-govt organizations, universities, etc, but no delegates participating in the actual negotiations. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-whi...

UN climate summits are part diplomatic negotiation, part climate and energy bazaar. With a clean energy revolution underway in much - but not all - of the world, the talks and sessions outside the official negotiating rooms at COP30 may be as important as what happens inside.

A decade after Paris, the clean economy is winning - terrific summary from @theturner.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/9858ffb...

Gold open access publishing fee for Nature is US$12,690. Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500. electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...

Live blog from across the US of the No Kings protest www.newsfromthestates.com/live-feed/no...

Three key points in my recent gov't testimony about Canada's climate efforts: 1) The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, though bolder than past plans, was not sufficient 2) That plan is not being sufficiently implemented 3) Good climate policy is in the long-term economic interests of Canada

“All we know that is happening is that we've been removing existing climate policies,” @simondonner.bsky.social said. @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca @science.ubc.ca www.thestar.com/business/is-...

This post buries the lede: "Push for what you can't control alone. Vote for leaders who support climate-smart investments; demand action from those already in power; sign petitions; and join collective campaigns that drive change at scale."

Re-upping this paper by @sethwynes.bsky.social and @simondonner.bsky.social which finds a median climate vote in Canada associated w 34 tons, vs 2.4 tons for car free for a yr. Individual action charts look pretty different with collective action. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Most of the world has recently set all-time heat records - valuable analysis from @hausfath.bsky.social to show that climate change is real and global... even it was hotter in one town 80 years ago. www.theclimatebrink.com/p/most-of-th...

The federal Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development is holding hearings about Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. You can watch the video of yesterday's hearing, in which I participated: www.ourcommons.ca/committees/en/ENVI/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=13130858

Had a good chat with @johannawagstaffe.bsky.social about China pledging to reduce emissions, for the first time youtu.be/M3ps0P7uyic?...

Which climate scientists are doing good work similar to what you've seen me doing with Meeting the Moment (buttondown.email/liminalcreat...) and Unbreaking (unbreaking.org)? (I have a few already in mind, but want to enlist your help and expand my circles.)

On the rise of activist tourism, and whether it can help us respond to challenges like climate change.

We tend to assume others think like us. The US President and his speechwriters calling climate change a con job is a reflection on them. They're willing to deceive the public for personal gain, so they assume others are as well, and can't conceive of people taking actions for the greater good.