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Welcome to the WE-CAN Climate News Roundup
Your Primary Source for CLIMATE NEWS
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Stay Connected. Be Inspired. Get Involved.
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This Week in Climate
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From WE-CAN: Schools are back, the holiday’s over, and on the climate action front, it’s all happening. Seniors are driving to Ottawa in a caravan of EVs to tell our MPs to get with the climate reality. 350.org is urging us to tell Ottawa to tax big oil in the budget. WE-CAN is launching a new Climate in the Ridings initiative, and a Green Business Gathering in two weeks time. The municipal elections are just around the corner, and so is El Niño, likely the largest and most dangerous in 1,000 years. If you are able to support our work financially, you can do so here. It all helps!
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The Seniors' Climate Witness Caravan to Ottawa
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From Seniors’ Climate Witness: 20 people are travelling from Vancouver Island to Ottawa by electric vehicle, Details here and here. Caravan public events:
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- Victoria, Tuesday Sept 8, noon, Mile Zero Landmark, 18 Douglas Street (Emily Lowan, speaker)
- Vancouver, Wednesday Sept 9, 10am, David Suzuki Foundation, 1122 Mainland Street (David Suzuki, speaker)
- Kamloops, Thursday Sept 10, 9am, Centennial Park
- Catch their great video here!
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Action Now!
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Tell Your Local Government: Make Polluters Pay
From Sue Big Oil: The Union of BC Municipalities holds its annual conference September 14–18, where mayors and councillors from across the province vote on the resolutions that shape BC’s priorities for the year ahead. One of them is NR32: Pursuing a Class-Action Lawsuit Against Fossil Fuel Companies. If it passes, BC will be formally required to tell municipalities and First Nations, whether it will take a leadership role in pursuing a class-action lawsuit against fossil fuel companies. Write here
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Gabriola Dangerous Roads Youth Report – You Can help!
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From Gabriola Youth: Ever since 1992, the road leading off the ferry on Gabriola Island has been dangerous, with numerous accidents, serious injuries, even deaths. But enough! A group of Gabriola youth have put together a totally awesome presentation, laying out exactly what’s needed, costing it out at $34,000. They have even gamed it out using DnD (Dungeons and Dragons). Start squirming, folks at MoTT! (Ministry of Transportation and Transit). Please write to MLA Sheila Malcolmson urging her to get MoTT working on this by October 15th (the last day for reflective line-painting) sheila.malcolmson.MLA@leg.bc.ca Read more
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Climate Flags of Hope
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From Seniors for Climate South Okanagan: We are inviting people all across Canada to send us a Flag of Hope. We will mount them on cotton cords, hopefully with ALL provinces and territories represented.. Send us an email, and we’ll send you a flag kit. We hope to hear from many people across Canada. The flags are inspired by Tibetan prayer flags. They are gentle, but powerful. They offer another way to break through the climate silence. Read more
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Tell Your MP: Tax Big Oil in Budget 2026
From 350.org: Canadian oil and gas companies' profits for 2026 could reach up to $100 billion. But Prime Minister Carney has refused to entertain the idea of taxing their excess profits to help provide relief to Canadians. Tell your MP and key cabinet ministers to implement a 75% tax on them. A majority of Canadians support this; the UK and Portugal have already implemented windfall taxes. A 75% windfall profit tax would raise $37.5 – $75 billion to fund. Write here
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Call on Canada to Lead a Global Moratorium on Deep-Sea Mining in International Waters
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From Oceans North: No person or corporation from Canada or anywhere should have the opportunity to unilaterally pursue deep-sea mining exploration. That’s why Canada’s leadership could encourage the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to pass a global moratorium until scientists learn more about the ecosystems deep-sea mining corporations are gearing up to disturb. Sign the Petition to the Commons here
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WE-CAN Friends and Allies
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Monday, September 14th & Tuesday 15th, 7 am - 10 am PT The Better Ideas Show
From The Energy Mix: What if you organized a high-powered, high-stakes summit to try to bring new investment to your country and build a brighter future, but some of your top prospective partners with the best, most durable nation-building ideas never showed up? Not because they didn’t want to, but because you never invited them? What opportunities, storylines, and future benefits does the summit leave behind when it attaches a minimum $200 million value to the projects Carney will be pitching? Details here
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Tuesday, September 15, 12 Noon: Climate in the Ridings
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From WE-CAN: We invite you to the launch of a new initiative, for which we need your assistance. Our purpose is to create a group in every riding in BC to coordinate climate meetings with our MPs and MLAs. At the launch, you will learn about the initiative from Avi Dolgin, its volunteer organizer, and get guidance from Emiko Newman with the BC Climate Emergency Campaign about how to organize a great meeting with your MLA or MP. Register here.
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Wednesday, September 23, 6-7 pm: A Green Business Gathering
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From WE-CAN: Do you own, operate, or work in a green business in BC? If so, we invite you to join us at this event when we will explore our shared interest in there being better climate action policies and initiatives in BC. We define ‘green’ as any business-linked commitment to create a greener, more ecologically sustainable world. It’s not just big companies like Patagonia that are working to make a difference. We are confident that there are thousands of businesses in BC that want to make this difference. Take the risk. Join us! Let’s see what might come out of this. Register here.
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Later is too Late – Break Through the Climate Silence
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From Seniors for Climate: We are holding a week of action from October 12th to 18th to break through the climate silence. We started the climate conversations during Environment Week in the beginning of June. This fall, we will escalate those conversations into direct engagement with municipal leaders, provincial/territorial representatives, and Members of Parliament. Read more.
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The October Municipal Elections
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The Rising Right and B.C.’s Municipal Election
From Dogwood: This fall’s local elections are a key moment to stop fringe candidates and defend Indigenous rights. We’re seeing councillors whipping up fears over Indigenous land title and property rights, school boards debating book bans, and municipal climate plans becoming flashpoints for Freedom Convoy networks. In Sechelt, council hopeful Marc Emery is running on a platform of banning land acknowledgements and opposing ‘all the woke shit.’ Read and understand here
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Triple the Vote! In B.C.’s 2026 Municipal Elections
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From Dogwood: Only 1 in 3 people vote in municipal elections. If we change that, we change what’s possible for our towns and cities. Pledge to vote now! And then triple the vote by talking to three friends about voting. Pledge here
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Climate Solutions
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London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone Linked to Improved Lung Growth in Children
From Queen Mary University, London: A landmark study of more than 3,400 children has found that air quality improvements following the introduction of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone are strongly associated with accelerated lung growth in children. Read more
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‘Paradox of Progress’: What it Will Take to Turn Renewables Boom into a Real Drop in Emissions?
From EuroNews: A record €1.9 trillion is being invested in clean energy yearly, yet it still only meets 40% of the increase in demand. In 2025, renewable sources generated almost 34% of global electricity. Scaling this to 60–70% by 2030 would help the world achieve a limited-overshoot scenario, according to UNEP’s report. Read more
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CRD Secures $7M, Selects Pyrocal for Canada’s First Biosolids-to-Biochar Facility
From ESE Mag: BC’s Capital Regional District has secured $7 million in federal infrastructure funding and selected Pyrocal for a first-of-its-kind Canadian project that will convert wastewater biosolids into carbon storing biochar at the Hartland Landfill in Saanich. Read more
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Join the Movement. Fuel the Change. The climate crisis won’t wait — and neither can we. At the West Coast Climate Action Network, we connect with and support nearly 300 climate organizations across BC. Together, we amplify impact, share resources, and drive urgent change.
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But we can’t do it without you!
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By becoming a monthly donor, you provide steady and reliable support that sustains the climate movement throughout the year. Your contributions fund vital coordination, advocacy, events, and tools — empowering people and organizations across BC to fight for a livable future. Monthly giving also makes it easier for you to stay connected to the cause, while helping us plan and grow with confidence
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Whether it’s $5 or $50 a month, your donation directly strengthens climate action in BC — and every dollar adds up.
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Be the spark. Join our growing community of monthly donors today.
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Thank you for standing with us in this decisive decade.
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Climate Politics and Action
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The Making of an AI Data Centre Warrior
From The Tyee: Bek MacIntosh helped rally her Alberta town to kill a megaproject. The wider fight, she vows, is ‘just getting started.’ The first thing that Bek MacIntosh, a 42-year-old business owner and mother of three, wants Albertans to know is this: it is possible for a community to stop a $10 billion hyperscale data centre dead in its tracks. Read more
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Canada is Burning. The CBC Should Tell Us Why
From Tara Mahoney: Only 9% of CBC climate stories examined in the Quiet Alarm study connected climate consequences to their underlying causes. If Canada's public broadcaster doesn't consistently explain why the climate is changing, who will? Tara Mahoney from Creative Publics and SFU has launched an essential new campaign. Send your letter to the CBC here.
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Wildfires are Front-Page News. Why Isn't Their Cause?
From National Observer: The next time you hear a news story about a wildfire, try a small experiment. Listen for two words: climate change. Then listen for two more: fossil fuels. You won’t hear them. There is a term to describe this: climate hushing, the downplaying, omission or avoidance of climate change in public communication. Read more
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Carney Has Laid Out Five Clear Climate Goals, but the Path to Achieving them is Murky
From Corporate Knights: The contours of that new plan have been slow in coming, but after the government’s first year and a half in office, some details are now evident. Here are five explicit Carney climate-related commitments. Read more
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Catherine McKenna Wants Canada to Get Smarter About Climate and Affordability
From Corporate Knights: Since leaving the federal cabinet in 2021, Catherine McKenna has championed change through her roles as founder of Climate and Nature Solutions and chair of a UN net-zero group. “The energy transition is the best way to protect Canadians and to lower their costs with solutions that are cheaper and better.” Don’t expect oil producers to be part of the solution: “They made all these promises when I was minister, and they broke all of them. Our emissions now continue to rise, and they continue to demand subsidies.” Read more
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Climate Science and Impacts
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46% of the World’s Farmers are Poisoned by Pesticides Every Year
From Wicked Leeks: Using data on pesticide poisoning from 139 countries, researchers found over 400 million incidents of farmers and farmworkers suffering from acute pesticide poisoning annually. This excludes the 84 million children working in global agriculture who “are even more vulnerable” to toxic chemicals, as well as rural families exposed through spray drift and environmental exposure. Read more
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‘Supersizing Before Our Eyes’: UN Warns of Record El Niño Approaching
From The Guardian: The El Niño is likely to be the largest in at least 1,000 years and will pile extra heat into an atmosphere where temperatures are already rising rapidly due to global heating. The combination means 2027 is set to “blow apart” the record and be the hottest year ever recorded. The World Food Programme said it was likely to push about 50 million people into acute hunger. Read more
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Canadians Should Prepare for a 5 C Hotter Future, Report Warns
From CBC: Canada’s new Changing Climate report finds that if global governments keep pursuing their current climate policies, Canada will still see intensified warming. Summer droughts are projected to become longer, more intense, and more frequent in central and southern Canada. Canadians should also brace for an increase in the frequency and intensity of flash flooding and atmospheric rivers. Read more
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Nepal’s Glacial Collapse Foreshadowed a Future of Climate Disaster
From The Guardian: For millennia, the high peaks of the Himalayas were held together by permafrost and glacial ice that bound ancient rock into seemingly unshakable fortresses. But as the planet continues to warm, this alpine glue is liquefying. The glacial collapse and deluge in Nepal and Tibet was not a freak weather event; it was nature’s latest commentary on the deadly consequences of human-caused planetary warming, illustrating with a sole unnatural disaster the apocalyptic future that lies in store if we fail to take dramatic climate action. Read more
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The Nepal and Tibet flood is a Warning: Melting Snow and Ice Will Bring More Disasters Around the World
From The Guardian: In Alaska, the Himalayas, the Andes, Greenland, and perhaps also the Alps, deadly chain reactions are just waiting to be triggered. Read more
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Wildfires. Flooding. Drought. Majority of Canadians Personally Affected by Climate Change Events this Year
From Toronto Star: Climate change is causing natural disasters across Canada that are burning down homes, evacuating communities, washing away livelihoods, drying out crops, poisoning the air and killing people. This year, more than 60 per cent of Canadians have been personally affected by climate disasters, the Elbows Up For Climate campaign found when producing its 2026 Climate Impacts Map. Read more
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You Can Take Action! Events, Protests and Rallies
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*PLEASE NOTE* If your climate organization is a WE-CAN member, click “Post your Event” under ‘Calendar’, and it will be added following approval.
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The calendar is a great networking tool, helping you connect and share events with the broader climate movement. Check it out and start posting your events today!
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All times are Pacific Standard Time
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Wednesday, September 9, 3:30 pm Climate Conversations Matter - Let's Get Talking - with Katherine Hayhoe
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From Seniors for Climate: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose research focuses on understanding the impacts of climate change on people and the planet. She is known for her ability to translate complex climate issues into accessible public discourse. Our Zoom webinar will kick off Seniors for Climate events across the country this fall to engage more Canadians in the climate conversation. Act now: Later is Too Late! Register here
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Thursday, September 17th, 7 pm: Eliminating Waste with Dr. Lozelle Reed - Deep Dive
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From First Things First Okanagan: We take a deep dive into waste with Dr. Lozelle Reed, professor at Okanagan College, to look at a circular economy where waste is designed out, products last longer, materials stay in use and natural systems regenerate. Register here
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September 21, 6-8 pm, Seven Sisters on the Salish Sea: Our Sacred Duty (Vancouver)
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From EcoTrust: Canada is introducing even more resource extraction projects that will dramatically increase fossil fuel transport to, and across, the Salish Sea. These projects illustrate a disregard and disrespect for the health of the Salish Sea, First Peoples on both sides of the border, and our sacred obligation to the salmon, the orca and all of the Creation, to the Ancestors, and to future generations. Join us at Saint Andrews Church 1022 Nelson St. Read more
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Thursday, October 1st, 6-9 pm: Building Streets for Life: How to Create a City for All Ages (In Vancouver)
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From BEST Mobility: We invite you to join us for our 35th Anniversary celebration! An evening of PechaKucha presentations, community connection, networking, and delicious local treats as we reimagine Vancouver’s streets for all generations. $35. Creekside Community Recreation Centre, Second Floor, Multipurpose Room 4. Read more
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Thursday, October 2nd, 6 pm Climate Movie Night: We the Children
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From WE-CAN: Told entirely from a child’s perspective, Ninan Auassat: We, the Children is a powerful documentary that reveals the dreams of a new generation ready to take flight. Director Kim O’Bomsawin takes us deep into the world of Indigenous youth, capturing the stories of children from the Atikamekw, Eeyou Cree and Innu Nations over more than six years. Their voices ring out as a call to action. Everyone welcome! Register here
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Grants, Job Vacancies and More!
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Policy Under Pressure: Youth Climate Program
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From City Hive: Policy Under Pressure is a hands-on learning program for youth ages 18-30 in Metro Vancouver. Participants will learn what it takes to make change happen in our local governments. Our second cohort will run from October to December 2026. Applications are now open! Apply by Sunday, September 20. Apply here
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Job Vacancies: Greater Victoria Green Team Program Managers
We need two experienced, self-motivated community builders who are comfortable leading groups, highly organized, take ownership of their work, and thrive on balancing independent computer work with high-energy, physically active field days. Details here
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Job Vacancy: Metis Nation Climate Action and Restoration Coordinator
As the Climate Action and Restoration Coordinator, you will play a key role in delivering the development and execution of MNBC’s climate action and ecological restoration initiatives. Details here
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Climate/Environmental Jobs Posted on Linked-In
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Environment Funders
Their list of members is here - a useful source of thinking when it comes to fundraising
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WE-CAN’s Fundraising Toolkit for Climate Action Groups is here
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Stay Connected. Be Inspired. Get Involved.
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From all of us in the West Coast Climate Action Network
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We honour the title and rights of the Indigenous peoples on whose ancestral lands we live and work.
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