The costs of climate change are enormous, and are readily visible in this summer of
extreme heat, wildfires, cyclones, tornadoes and floods. Within the past three weeks,
well over two million people have been evacuated due to climate-related
emergencies – 400,000 in North America and Europe because of wildfires and 1.9
million in China due to typhoons.
Nevertheless, action to mitigate climate change is often framed as being in
opposition to our economic interests. Prime Minister Mark Carney stated recently that
the climate action plan of the previous Liberal government would have been too
expensive for Canadians; that we can’t afford to restrain the growth of oil and gas;
and that his government’s actions will raise Canadian emissions. Conservative Leader
Pierre Poilievre has described net-zero emissions as a radical idea that implies netzero growth, jobs and paycheques. The reality is quite the contrary. The evidence is
now irrefutable that taking swift climate action will be far cheaper than delaying it.