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Welcome to the WE-CAN Climate News Roundup
Your Primary Source for CLIMATE NEWS
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Issue #235 March 17, 2026
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Stay Connected. Be Inspired. Get Involved.
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Top Story
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New Westminster Joins Sue Big Oil!
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From Sue Big Oil: In February, the New Westminster City Council became the 12th BC community to support a proposed class-action lawsuit seeking to recover a share of climate-related costs from global fossil fuel companies. Local residents and young people played a pivotal role in getting New West on board, including members of New West Climate Action Hub and the Monkey Rebels activism club at New West Secondary. We’re now strategizing around which of the 12 municipalities will step up as the lead plaintiff to file the lawsuit. 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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Action Now!
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📌 Will You Help Put Comfortable, Affordable Homes Within Reach for More Canadians?
A House of Commons petition is calling on the government to make energy efficiency a nation-building priority. We're asking the federal government to set double the rate at which we improve energy productivity, and to end energy poverty. The benefits of efficiency are clear. Every dollar invested returns $4 to $7 in GDP. It can help two million Canadians escape energy poverty, and it keeps our government's promise to treat energy efficiency as the "first fuel." Sign here
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WE-CAN Friends and Allies
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Friday, March 27, 12-1 pm Lunch ‘ Learn: First Nations Call for Safe, Affordable Transportation
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From WE-CAN: Our guests Kristin Denby and Charlotte Bull from the BC Assembly of First Nations will share important messages from their Low Carbon Transportation Project, which is working to accelerate opportunities for BC’s First Nations to access safe, affordable, and reliable low-carbon and active transportation, including in rural and remote communities. Register here
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Friday, March 27, 7 pm ‘Laxwesa Wa – Strength of the River’ Movie Night
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From WE-CAN: Indigenous people have always respected the resources of their rivers and oceans. But within their own lifetime, they have watched governments “manage” the fishery into a state of crisis. Barb Cranmer of the ’Namgis First Nation explores the rich fishing traditions of the Sto:lo, Heiltsuk and ‘Namgis peoples. With years’ of experience fishing Johnstone Strait with her father, she presents rarely heard stories of traditional fishing practices, and Indigenous peoples’ efforts to build a sustainable fishery for the future. Register here
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Green Businesses for a Safe Climate
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From WE-CAN: Can you help us compile a listing of 100 green businesses in BC? We need volunteers who will spend half an hour searching and entering green businesses into our list, using publicly available information. Contact guy@westcoastclimateaction.ca if you are able to help.
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📌 Help Us Break the Climate Silence - This Week!
From WE-CAN and BC Climate Emergency Campaign: This week is the Legislative break (March 16th – 27th). 58 meetings have been promised/set up, but we need 15 more people to meet with the NDP and Green Party MLAs, especially in Vancouver, Surrey, and Burnaby/New Westminster (see below). Have you asked for a meeting with your MLA? If you live in their riding, can you do so? The sign-up sheet is here, and you can request a copy of the 2025 Climate Action Progress Report here. Our advice on how to send that email, and how to meet your MLA, is here.
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We still need constituent meetings with the following:
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- Amna Shah, Surrey City Centre
- Joan Phillip, Vancouver Strathcona
- Gary Begg, Surrey Guildford
- Harwinder Sandhu, Vernon-Lumby
- Jagrup Brar, Surrey Fleetwood
- Jennifer Blatherwick, Coquitlam-Mailardville
- Jessie Sunner, Surrey-Newton
- Jodie Wickens, Coquitlam-Burke Mountain
- Lisa Beare, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
- Paul Choi, Burnaby South Metrotown
- Raj Chouhan, Burnaby-New Westminster
- Rick Glumac, Port Moody-Burquitlam
- Sunita Dhir, Vancouver-Langara
- Terry Yung, Vancouver-Yaletown
- Rob Botterell, Saanich-Gulf Islands
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WE-CAN Climate Book Club
My Happy Childhood in Racist British Columbia
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From The Tyee: On the eve of his 90th birthday, iconic scientist David Suzuki looks back on the early years that shaped him. “The alienation that began with our evacuation from the British Columbian coast and continued through high school has remained a fundamental part of who I am, despite the acquired veneer of adult maturity.” Read more
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Climate Solutions
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Solar on Stó:lō territory
From CBC: The Skwah First Nation in the Fraser Valley is embracing solar to lower electricity bills. Panels have been installed on the administration office, community hall, and preschool. The project aims to inspire others, with community energy champion Slade Williams saying the goal is “to show others in the Fraser Valley and the Stó:lō territory that this is the way to be.” Read more
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Casting Call: Heat Pump Owners in Vancouver
From Clean Energy Canada: Do you have a heat pump story to tell? We’re looking to connect with homeowners in Vancouver who have installed a heat pump and would be open to sharing their experience for an upcoming video. If you’ve made the switch—whether for lower energy bills, air conditioning, or cleaner heating—we’d love to hear about your experience. If that sounds like you or someone you know, contact ciara@cleanenergycanada.org
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Electric Buses are Coming Fast in Canada, but Outdated Garages, Grids and Chargers are Slowing them Down
From National Observer: Canada is spending billions to electrify thousands of buses, but the grid, charging infrastructure and transit depots must catch up quickly for large-scale electric fleets to operate. The biggest challenge is upgrading systems — from local electricity networks to transit garages designed decades ago for diesel fleets. Read more
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B.C. Pulp Mill Puts Green Hydrogen to the Test
From Globe & Mail: The Kamloops pulp mill that’s been in operation for more than 50 years will test a way to replace carbon-emitting natural gas with clean-burning ‘green’ hydrogen made by using renewable energy to split water. Read more
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Climate Action - Building Benchmarking
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From CRD: The Capital Regional District is launching the regional Building Benchmarking Program to help building owners measure and reduce their energy use, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and cut costs. Benchmarking allows owners to track their energy performance, compare it with similar properties, and identify opportunities to save. Read more
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Forestry and Nature
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Vancouver Island’s Private Logging Crisis - And the Law That Fixes It
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From Jennifer Houghton: Private land logging on Vancouver Island operates under the Private Managed Forest Land Act. This carve-out has become one of the weakest structural points in how forest infrastructure is governed in BC. This video shows what the regulations currently allow; why it functions as a regulatory exception; and how the New Forest Act framework would replace it with enforceable ecological standards, watershed protection, community oversight, and tax accountability, while maintaining private ownership. Watch here
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‘My Ideas are a Little Revolutionary’: Ecologist Suzanne Simard on Intelligent Forests, the Climate and Her Critics
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From The Guardian: Her research popularised the idea of the wood wide web, but the scientific backlash was brutal. As the author of The Mother Tree returns to the forest in a new book, she discusses her battle to reimagine our relationship with nature. She feels buoyed up by the public pressure on the Canadian government to improve forestry practices, but the tensions between the US and Canada are pulling the government in the opposite direction. “One of the consequences of moving away from the US towards greater self-reliance is increasing resource extraction.” Read more
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Climate Politics and Action
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The Plastic Detox Review – A Film so Terrifying You Will Want to Change Your Life Immediately
From The Guardian: In this affecting documentary, an epidemiologist asks six couples struggling to conceive to reduce their exposure to plastics and see if it helps. The results are startling – and prove that we should all make changes now. Read more
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Will Canada Meet its Goal to Protect 30% of Land and Waters By 2030?
From The Narwhal: There are just four years left on the clock in the race to conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030. But Canada has made little progress, adding less than one percentage point to its protected land tally and three points to its protected waters. Read more
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China’s New Green Law Signals Xi’s Environmental Ambitions
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From Bloomberg: China’s legislators approved a sweeping new environmental law that’s seen as supporting President Xi Jinping’s ambition to strengthen ecological and climate protections while also ensuring economic growth. The new Code endorsed consolidates a raft of previous legislation, including on air quality, low-carbon development and penalties for corporate polluters. Read more
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Climate Science and Impacts
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‘A Sobering Preview’: Extreme Heat Now Affects One in Three People Globally
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From The Guardian: Rising temperatures, driven by the continued burning of fossil fuels, are making it difficult even for many young, healthy adults to do basic physical activities, such as housework or walking up stairs during daylight hours at the height of the summer, the report warns. The limitations are greater for elderly people, who have less ability to sweat and thus control their body temperatures. 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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Tuesday, March 17, 9 am Avoiding the Spiral of Silence
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From Covering Climate Now: Super-majorities of people around the world want stronger climate action. But they don’t hear much about climate change in the media or from friends, so they stay quiet. Now, new analysis shows that majorities also favor larger, systemic change — less consumerism, less polarization — but don’t say so because they too mistakenly think they're a minority. Register here
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Tuesday, March 17, 6 pm Homes Not Pipelines Launch Call
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From LeadNow: We can’t afford giveaways to the fossil fuel industry. Public money should lower bills, not pad big oil profits. Let’s fund prosperity for people, not fossil fuel billionaires. We should invest in building Canada’s economy for the future, not in a dying industry of the past. Join us to learn about our campaign strategy and how you can plug in. Register here
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Wednesday, March 18, 3 pm Homes Not Pipelines Launch Call
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From LeadNow: We can’t afford giveaways to the fossil fuel industry. Public money should lower bills, not pad big oil profits. Let’s fund prosperity for people, not fossil fuel billionaires. We should invest in building Canada’s economy for the future, not in a dying industry of the past. Join us to learn about our campaign strategy and how you can plug in. Register here
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Thursday, March 19, 7 pm Sacred Earth Deep Dive
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From First Things First Okanagan: Join us to hear the history of the Indigenous women-led organization which assists remote Indigenous communities to install solar to cut fossil fuel use and emissions. Sacred Earth is an Indigenous and woman-led organization: “Our mission is to advance a ‘Just Transition’ which is a move towards climate solutions prioritizing communities that are most impacted by extractivism and by the effects of climate change.” Register here
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Friday, March 27, 1 - 2:30 pm Elder Leadership and Sustainability
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From SPEC: Join us to learn from Patricia Lane, whose four decades of work spans faith, justice, climate action, trade unions, co-founding Leadnow.ca and Greater Victoria Acting Together. Patricia will share lessons from her mentorship of young climate leaders, workshops on climate grief and appreciative inquiry, and communications advice to environmental groups and governments. Register here
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Tuesday, March 31, 10 am Building a Wellbeing Economy: From Grassroots to Global Change
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From Ecojustice: Join us to explore how we can reshape our economic system to prioritize human and ecological wellbeing, with three experts in the wellbeing economy movement. We’re pushing for bold, systemic reforms that recognize the limits of our ecosystems and put social and environmental justice at the centre. Register here
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Wednesday, April 15, 2-3 pm The Changing Climate of Work: Green Jobs, Skills, and Sector Transitions
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From CASC: Scott Lundy, Jim Stanford and Ben Simoni will discuss emerging green jobs, evolving skill demands, and the roles of unions, employers, and educational institutions in supporting workers through rapid sector transitions. Register here
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Thursday, April 16, 5 pm Forests Frayed to Forests Renewed: The Case for Rezoning BC’s Public Lands
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From BC Policy Solutions: Ben Parfitt has covered forestry since the 1980s as a journalist and with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He is currently a reporter with The Tyee, where he covers the forestry and oil and gas impacts on critical natural resources. Limited capacity. Will not be recorded. $20. At UVic. Register here
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Wednesday, April 22, 7-8 pm Climate Resilience for People with Intellectual + Developmental Disabilities
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From Down Syndrome Resource Syndrome: Climate change poses escalating physical, social, and financial risks, especially for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities like Down syndrome. This Earth Day, join us as we explore how we can improve our climate resilience, with our Sustainability Ambassador Nika Zondag, and a presentation by Dr. Sébastien Jodoin, who is researching the role of disability rights in addressing complex environmental and health issues and challenges. Read more
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Grants, Job Vacancies and More!
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Big Opportunity: Adaptive and Resilient Communities (Apply by March 25)
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From Tamarack Institute: Our 2026 Adaptive and Resilient Communities Cohort is designed to advance local climate adaptation and resilience projects. It will bring together 10 organizations for an 8-month journey of applied learning and action, from April to November. Read more
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Job Vacancies: Youth Climate Corps Community Climate Action Mobilizers
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From BC Youth Climate Corps: We are hiring Community Climate Action Mobilizers in Squamish, Kelowna, Courtenay, and Vernon. You’ll get paid to turn climate values into meaningful action, collaborate with an inspiring cohort, support hands-on projects with local community partners, build practical, transferable skills, and grow your confidence as a climate leader. Read more
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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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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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