Artwork by Danni Nguyen
Think of last summer—between the daily drone of mindless work, courses, and life events, something was lurking in the air. Something that Toronto would have never experienced under normal conditions: an omen of our future summers. It coated our streets with a grey fog that thickened the air. Our sun was a strange orange orb, mimicking a sunset at noon, barely visible behind the blanket of clouds. Do you know what it was?
It was smoke. This was the first distinctive summer in Toronto that had several air quality warnings caused by smoke from forest fires, up in northern Ontario.
Canada is no stranger to forest fires; in fact, British Columbia is awfully familiar with summer fires. There, wildfires are relatively normal; they clear areas for new growth, and several native species have long adapted to the strange patterns of their climate. However, due to the multiplicative effects of climate change, their fires are now burning longer and more intensely. From 2003 to 2022, an average of 1350 forest fires occurred each year, burning about 284,000 hectares. In 2023 alone, there were double the number of fires, destroying 2,840,545 hectares (Canadian Journal of Forest Research). I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure we can realize that 2,840,545 is much greater than 284,000 ha. This is a direct consequence of climate change, and most scientific journal would support me on this notion. It’s not just BC—on the other side of the country, we’re experiencing fires of our own, in places that would normally never catch alight.
This is only one of the effects we have experienced from climate change. I’m sure you can list many more: snow in mid-April, extreme temperature fluctuations, frequent summer storms, and hot, humid autumns. Some of this can seem normal as Toronto experiences delayed temperature adjustments when the seasons change, thanks to Lake Ontario (Living in Canada). This means October will be slightly warmer, and snowfall will begin later. We’ve seen this throughout our childhoods. Yet, there is also a massive distinction between our current conditions and the situation a decade ago; I cannot recall a single summer in my childhood where we had heat warnings; however, for the last two summers here, we have had several weeks of them (The Globe and Mail).
So what has Canada planned to do about this climate emergency? Short answer: just not enough.
I don’t believe I will need statistics to tell you that our climate is rapidly deteriorating; the effects are already occurring in our neighbourhoods. I also believe that I don’t need numbers to tell you that if our governments do not make a substantial and drastic shift towards a sustainable future by cutting down fossil fuel emissions, we are, to put it lightly, doomed. Of course, the “we” won’t include the 1%. They’re going to be just fine in their underground bunkers (The Rise of End Times Fascism). The real people affected will be us: the youth.
However, let me entertain you with some fun numbers, just to emphasize my point. Countries worldwide have legally agreed to one commitment in combating the climate crisis: to lower the average global temperature to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial times (UNFCCC: Paris Agreement). This is known as the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015. 1.5 °C demonstrates a threshold between being “safe” and “non-safe”. In actuality, it is much more nuanced than that, but for our purposes, it is sufficient in directing the world to a common endpoint before making the full transition to net-zero emissions. The Agreement has several components, but the main one in focus here are NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions). An NDC is a goal that a government self-selects and creates a plan to achieve within a period of time (UNFCCC: Paris Agreement). There are a few requirements to it, allowing NDCs to be adaptable to each country; however, it must contribute to the overall objective of lowering temperatures to 1.5 °C. Well-developed countries are to submit NDCs every 5 years, increasing ambition as they progress. Canada’s third NDC, submitted in 2025, is to “reduce its emissions by 45-50% below 2005 levels by 2035” (Canada, Climate Action Tracker).
First issue: our NDCs are supposed to become more progressive as the years go on, allowing for a momentous and motivated transition to renewable sources. Can you guess Canada’s previous NDC? It was to “reduce its emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030” (Canada, Climate Action Tracker). This obviously lacks ambition and suggests a business-as-usual approach to a crisis that will eventually swallow us whole. We do not have the time to slowly cut down emissions: it must be done effectively and with haste. However, a goal to reduce emissions is a promise nevertheless, and little progress is better than none. Second issue: the “little progress” that we have a legal commitment to, is practically equivalent to none.
Canada is extremely lacking in sufficient and direct policies for reducing fossil fuel emissions (Canada, Climate Action Tracker). We relied mainly on demand-side incentives, such as the carbon tax, which has now been removed—whether that is good or bad is more nuanced than this article can cover, though I can say the tax did not account for inflation and thus had critical design flaws. We had a few more polices, for example, the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires that all vehicles sold to be electric or plug-in hybrids by 2035. However, the interim goal of 20% by 2026 was out of reach and when PM Carney stepped into power, the mandate was rebated and is currently being reviewed (CD Howe).
Needless to say, we aren’t doing enough. In fact, some would argue we are going in the wrong direction, especially with the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding (Canada-Alberta MOU). This recent development means that the government has expressed interest in building another pipeline to transport Alberta’s oil to the Pacific Coast for exportation (Ecojustice). There are some pros: increased jobs, a stronger economy, and establishing ourselves in the oil business as a reliable producer. And then, there’s the cons: IT’S OIL FOR FUCK’S SAKE, whose environmental impacts are extremely destructive throughout the whole process of extraction, transportation and usage; it’s on unceded and traditional Indigenous land, which had absolutely no say in a pipeline being run through their backyards; and most of all, it does not “cut emissions from the oil and gas sector at the pace and scale needed to get to net zero by 2050”, which is a direct quote from Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (2030 Emissions Reduction Plan). How can our government, elected to guide us toward a better tomorrow, promise to reduce emissions while building the very infrastructure that supports them? How is this type of greed, dishonesty and lack of responsibility possible in the highest and arguably most respected position of power?
I am angry. I am angry for reasons I feel are obvious to anyone reading this: we have been told since our birth that fossil fuels cause global warming, global warming equals The Big Bad, and we should try to be more sustainable to fight against it. I live my life recycling yogurt containers and commuting to school and eating less meat, while the government goes against their own words and builds another pipeline. In the greater world, my habits have minuscule effects, and yet, it is I who has to live in a world where there are air quality warnings and forest fires in my backyards. I have no control over the ecosystem in which I will be. There is nothing I can do individually to help with global warming, and I will face the consequences of greedy corporations and selfish governments.
Climate change, at its core, is the blatant result of injustice. It is the product of capitalism, where we focus on squeezing out every fucking dollar a tree can offer, every cent the land can give. We destroy and use and pollute and manipulate the environment in any possible way so that we can make our lives a fraction easier, so that people’s pockets are just a little heavier, and in the end, there is still war, hunger and poverty on the streets. The whole concept seems so futile. The class difference grows every day. My city is becoming more and more unaffordable. There’s a housing crisis, a job crisis, a human rights crisis and who knows what else is happening alongside everything. There is no unity between us as a human species, and every day I see only more evidence of this.
Hopeless as it might be, there is no way we can give up. We have to fight because everything, our forests, oceans, cities, neighbourhoods, friends, homes, everything, is on the line. To give up is to lose it all. And we can’t. We can’t afford to lose the biodiversity that sustains our trees, we can’t afford to wipe out half of the species on Earth, and we can’t afford temperatures this extreme. In the end, any progress is truly better than none, and to reduce warming by even a tenth is still beneficial.
I don’t know how to solve climate change—correction: I don’t know how to get our governments to take action against global warming. It seems no matter how many protests, petitions, conferences, and global initiatives, we continue our old, harmful habits. What I do know is that, at the heart of climate action, is the need to mend our relationship with our planet and change the perspective of our existence. We need to live in harmony. There is no other way to put it. We must realize that we exist on a planet that nourishes us, and we must care for it in return. We just cannot pretend that polluting waters and stealing oil aren’t impacting the land; that everything will return to “normal”, given time. Our society is built around the concept that we are a superior species; however, we have to understand that we are just a species—an intelligent one, yes—but in the end, just another animal. We breathe and play and eat and reproduce like every other organism on this Earth. Just like every living being on our planet, our actions have an impact on the environment.
We cannot hide from the fact anymore: climate change is due to our exploitation of the environment, and if we do not fight it at this very moment, we face the death of our culture, the loss of many beloved and unknown species, but most importantly of them all, our home, the Earth. It is a slow and cruel death. It will be the very plague that wipes out our populations. If we want to change our trajectory of self-destruction, we have to organize and try anything to stop this.
Thus, I urge you, do whatever you can in your power to prevent it. Vote responsibly, eat less meat, use less plastic, attend protests, and join local organizations. Talk about it—with your parents, friends, classmates, peers, and educate those around you. Push for change, whether that is in your own lifestyle, your inner circle, or on a global scale. Learn to adjust your lifestyle in any way possible, whether that is by taking the bus or considering whether you truly need that new pair of shoes.
It’s time we wake up.
RESOURCES
Lighthouse Collective: A form which you can fill out to connect you to a climate action organization similar to your interests and goals.
TCAN Member Groups: A list of climate groups local to Toronto, across all audiences.
Climate Action Network: A list of climate groups local to Canada, across all audiences.
Ecosia: A web browser completely powered by renewable resources, with a built-in AI and secure browsing.
10 Actions Against Climate Change: UN’s 10 actions to combat climate change.
Please feel free to share resources in the comments below!
Leave a Reply