Trudeau acknowledges charges in Nijjar killing, calls for commitment to democracy
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the charges laid Friday in relation to the murder of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Members of the Group of Seven major economies pledged Tuesday to create a new "climate club" for nations that want to take more ambitious action to tackle global warming, putting them on a possible collision course with China.
The idea, championed by G7 summit host German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, will see countries that join the club agree on tougher measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Countries that are part of the club will try to ensure their national measures are transparent and comparable, avoiding the need for members to impose climate-related tariffs on each others' imports. The European Union in particular has touted such tariffs as a way to prevent companies which reduce emissions from being undercut by foreign rivals that don't have to abide by strict environmental rules.
Speaking at the end of the three-day summit, Scholz said the aim was to "ensure that protecting the climate is a competitive advantage, not a disadvantage."
The G7 say that the new club will be "will be inclusive in nature and open" to countries that are committed to fully implementing the 2015 Paris climate accord, but the idea is likely to find little favour particularly with China, the world's biggest emitter. Beijing has made clear that it strongly opposes climate-related tariffs and has tried to rally support against the idea from other emerging and developing countries.
Scholz said details of the planned climate club would be finalized this year.
The G7 also made clear their continued support for efforts to cap global warming at 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) this century compared to preindustrial times, outlining numerous measures they will take to curb their own emissions and help poorer nations do the same.
Environmental campaigners expressed relief that existing pledges to phase out coal use and boost the uptake of electric cars hadn't been rolled back, though the G7 did soften their commitments on ending public support for fossil fuel investments.
In their final statement following three days of talks in Elmau, the G7 leaders said that because of the exceptional circumstances arising from the war in Ukraine, "publicly supported investment in the gas sector can be appropriate as a temporary response."
Environmental campaigners, scientists and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have urged rich, developed nations to end all public finance for fossil fuel projects, warning that these could lock in increased carbon emissions or become obsolete in just a few years.
Scholz, whose country has scrambled to find replacements for Russian natural gas supplies cut due to the war in Ukraine, defended the decision.
"Gas will be needed temporarily and that is why there may be investments that make sense, in this transition phase, and that therefore may need to be supported," he told reporters after the summit.
One of the arguments made by German officials in favour of supporting new natural gas development projects is that this could prevent them having to resort to burning more polluting coal to meet their energy needs.
But experts said it is unclear whether investments in natural gas projects -- such as one that Germany is considering supporting in Senegal -- even make financial sense when countries have committed not to release any additional emissions into the atmosphere by mid-century.
"The simple truth is gas, oil and coal have got much more expensive while clean alternatives like wind and solar look an even better, and far cheaper bet," said Gareth Redmond-King of the environmental think tank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. "It will be critical not to risk fossil fuel stranded assets that, by the time they come online, find the world has moved on towards net zero."
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the charges laid Friday in relation to the murder of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Princess Anne paid tribute to veterans buried at a cemetery in British Columbia today, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, edging out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the upset victory.
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.