Canada's Environmental Voice
It isn’t the burgeoning global human population that is the main threat to planetary sustainability, but rather the escalating expectations of a global human population rapidly committing itself in ever-increasing waves to the current Western “mindset.” This mindset, crystallized by modern economics, generates a world in which economic actors operate […]
The $19-billion award of the Ecuadorian court, in 2010, against Chevron to redress massive contamination in the Amazon had all the appearances of a cause célèbre. The class action lawsuit of Aguinda vs Chevron – initiated by 76 Indigenous people and migrant farmers, on behalf of 30,000 plaintiffs – represented […]
Thinking outside of the box is fun. It’s challenging, creative, sometimes comical and – surprisingly often – useful. It can help you understand things in unexpected ways. And out-of-the-box thinking can lead to innovative approaches to environmental opportunities and creative solutions to persistent problems. There are scads of guides and […]
The Paris climate talks have come to an end, and a historic agreement has been reached. In Canada, environmentalists have breathed a deep sigh of relief as the federal and provincial governments have signalled their plans to collaborate on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Climate change is an international, inter-generational and interdisciplinary issue. To help on the inter-generational side, the University of Waterloo is sending a team of six student delegates from diverse academic backgrounds to represent the university at COP21 in Paris, France. Four other UW Students will be attending the negotiations with […]
As you’ve surely heard, COP21 will be taking place soon in Paris, like a high-speed electric train of acronyms. Oh, the acronyms. The UNFCCC – that’s the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – sure does love its acronyms. COP, by the by, stands for Conference of the Parties, […]
With Kyoto’s deadlines looming, Canada faces the likelihood that we will not reach our targets of reducing emissions to six percent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. And Canada is not alone. A number of European countries, Japan and New Zealand are realizing that their emissions continue to rise […]
“Science insists that we can’t express particulars. But we love things in particular, not in general … and when you love something in particular, you’re not inclined to see that it could be replaced by anything else.” – Karen Houle, writer-in-residence, rare Charitable Research Reserve.
Vortex Bladeless calls itself “the new paradigm of wind power.” The Spanish startup is developing wind turbines that generate power through vibration, without the need for the distinctive spinning blades of conventional wind power. So confident are they that this will be a popular idea, they began crowdfunding their work […]
On June 18, Pope Francis released a 180-page encyclical letter on the environment, addressed to every person on the planet. He covers a lot of ground: pollution, our throwaway culture, the breakdown of society. Here are the passages that particularly resonate with A\J.
