The Environment in Canada Podcast

Finance is often made into an inaccessible topic to keep people out, but finance is also a vital force in the world that we should all play a role in shaping. Jessica talks with Julie Segal of Environmental Defence Canada about the role of finance in addressing climate change in Canada and a new policy that aims to get financial institutions to act. In the Q&A we answer your question as to why...

We talk with Imre Szeman, inaugural director of the Institute for Environment, Conservation and Sustainability at UTSC, and Marc Apollonio of the Cited Podcast about the changing nature of climate denial and two exciting upcoming events they are organizing. In the Q&A we address questions we received on why Canada's emissions matter in the fight to reduce global emissions and talk about w...

We held an exhibition of wildfire and other climate artifacts at New York Climate Week in NYC on September 24, 2024. Climate survivors are also present to tell their stories. We get into that exhibit, why we need an emissions cap on wealthy oil and gas corporations , and what goes on in the heads of the public relations professionals who work for those corporations. Draft regulations for a cap on...

Jessica talks with facilitator Sally Ludwig about the Work That Reconnects, an interactive group process developed by scholar and activist Joanna Macy. Drawn from foundational teachings from Tibetan buddhism, Systems Thinking, Deep Ecology and Deep Time, the group work centres around community  to find our way through the many environmental and social crises of our times. They also discuss Sally&a...

Technology alone will not save us. Paris Marx joins us to discuss how the drive to grow the artificial intelligence (AI) industry without moderation could have some seriously negative consequences for the climate and how the debate on AI tends to emphasize false concerns over genuine ones (like misinformation and impacts on journalism quality). We get into how journalism is changing and the import...

Taylor talks with Kaitlyn Trudeau about her recent research on how climate change made high temperatures at least twice as likely before the Jasper wildfire and how without the impacts of human-caused climate change the fire wouldn’t have been as severe as it was. They go over why there’s no substitute for dramatically reducing carbon emissions and how we can now tie specific events directly to cl...

Conor talks with Vittoria Bellissimo of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) about where Canada actually stands on progress towards renewable energy and jobs and what actions are needed most from governments at all levels. Plus they discuss examples of communities taking control of their energy grids through renewables, how companies should work with communities to address their conc...

Jessica talks with Sister Mary-Ellen Francoeur, a Catholic Nun involved in the fight to get the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) out of oil and gas financing. They talk about how members of the United, Catholic, Anglican, Unitarian and Baptist congregations and Buddhists, among many others, have been coming together to push for climate action. They also discuss faith-based perspectives on the environmen...

Conor talks about why the emissions cap will NOT hurt Canada's economy, prosperity, nor hurt jobs with Aaron Cosbey, a development economist with 30 years of experience, and Jessica Kelly, a Senior Policy Advisor, of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). They discuss how one of the main drivers of inflation in Canada is our overdependence on oil and gas and what we c...

Jessica talks with Bomgiizhik (Isaac Murdoch) of Serpent River First Nation about putting aside the temptation to fight one another in the climate movement and negative feelings, so we can win the bigger battles we need to win. They discuss the urgent need for action and systemic change, the power of positivity, the beautiful responsibility we have to nature, and building a movement. It's a p...

The river always had rights... Conor talks with Gilbert Whiteduck & Yenny Vega Cardenas about Rights for the Tenàgàdino Zibi/Gatineau River & Magpie River. They discuss how to be proactive in recognizing the Rights of Nature & make systemic change. How it starts with dialog - but it can't end there. They also discuss how the pursuit of the Rights of Nature is engaging people in a...

You'll hear how climate misinformation works in this episode and learn effective ways to counter it. Jessica talks with John Cook, a senior research fellow at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne who studies the cognitive psychology of climate science denial. He founded Skeptical Science, a website that debunks climate change myths : https://skepticalscienc...

Nous discutons d'un nouveau guide pour les municipalités du Québec redigé par notre section Sierra Club Québec et TerraHumana Solutions ; Comment protéger les oiseaux ? Il s'agit de notre premier épisode en français , avec Dre Isabelle-Anne Bisson, spécialiste en études environnementales. You can also watch an older presentation on this subject in English here . Le guide est disponible i...

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Get the facts on the how oil and gas corporations have caused the climate crisis and made wildfires much more likely and more destructive in our fact sheet : https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-wildfire-causes/ The climate crisis made the previous spate of 2023 Canada wildfires twice as likely scientists found and made fire-prone weather at least 20% more intense. This week we are featuring the podca...

Jessica joins John Borrows, jurist and leading authority on Canadian Indigenous and constitutional law, to discuss being proactive about environmental law rather than only cleaning up after the damage is done. They also talk about concepts of the Rights of Nature and wild rice, Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline, love, truth, time and wisdom, Anishinaabe legal relationships not based on coercion, and...

Just 6 months ago the prospect of environmental protests being 'banned' seemed ridiculous in Argentina, as did the idea that oil and gas companies would not have to pay taxes. That, effectively, is now very close to happening there and it should be a wake up call for all of us here in Canada as well. Imagine for a moment that provinces can no longer collect taxes on oil companies, that p...

Jessica talks with Shirley Barnea, the 19-year old organizer of the Fridays for the Future protests in Montréal which brought out thousands of people . They discuss protesting at a Environment Minister's press conference, how to combat doom-ism about the climate, recipes, and the Future of Fridays for the Future. Shirley recently became our Québec Chapter Director at Sierra Club Canada. In th...

We discuss the changing nature of websites and website design, from a one off platform to a long term project, and how we worked with the website firm Mangrove to make our website more environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and accessible to people who have accessibility issues. The podcast includes our story of making the SierraClub.ca website easier to access in rural communities and remote...

At the end of the day what the climate-concerned and those concerned about inflation (and there's a lot of overlap there) share is a concern about future generations and our families.  Far from mutually exclusive we can have a strong carbon pricing system and address inflation. We can have a green future. But to do so means addressing misinformation.  That's why we're back for a rou...

We talk with Jean-Frédéric Caron, the Executive Director of Orchestre de l’Agora, an ensemble that uses music as a tool for sustainable social change. We discuss how musicians work to promote environmental awareness and to make music more accessible to the public, the way we perceive our environment through sound, and why it’s so important we make sure younger musicians have the ability to continu...

Jessica Murray talks with Aric McBay about why we need to explore multiple avenues to winning in the environmental movement and use different tactics in concert with each other. They also discuss how to be more inclusive in our actions and an upcoming two day in person event in June where you can learn more on these topics and on radical imagination. For more information on the event contact ontar...

The best way to fight climate misinformation is to have conversations with those we know, and we know many of you are having those chats. Sierra Club Canada is here to help with a new special series of All Hands on Deck webinars specifically on how to win hearts and minds on the toughest climate issues through conversations. We interrupt our normally scheduled programming to bring you the first of...

We learn to value nature through our repeated exposure to it, so how can we help future generations if they don't get to experience the natural world? Sierra Club Canada's Wild Child programs get children outside for tens of thousands of hours every year, but what does that really mean? For answers Conor talks with Tamsyn Neale of our Wild Child PEI program about outdoor education, how w...

Ever wonder what goes into an effective climate communications plan? This week’s conversation with Jessica Murray and Anat Shenker-Osorio delves into that subject and the lessons in the episode are useful whether you're a full time climate communicator or just looking to speak to others in your life. Also in this podcast is the story of Indigenous communities in Ecuador who won against the oi...