Enviro Watch

The first government-backed system for sorting investments by environmental impact came from an unlikely place. These systems, known as green taxonomies, label economic activities by their perceived environmental impact to steer investors toward some projects and away from others. Under the European Union’s version, for example, vehicle manufacturing qualifies as a green economic activity only if the vehicles produced have zero tailpipe emissions. A private-sector version appeared in 2012, when the non-profit Climate Bonds Initiative created a taxonomy to promote “green bonds”. Canada is now building its own. A December 2025 Department of Finance press release said the taxonomy reflects Ottawa’s commitment to “mobilizing public and private capital to promote investment in sustainability, as part of the transition to net-zero.” Critics argue its real purpose is to constrain how banks, insurers and pension funds invest their clients’ money. But the first government to create such a system was Communist China, whose central bank published a green taxonomy in December 2015 despite the country’s deplorable record on pollution. Critics argue Canada is following a model pioneered by China that could limit where Canadian capital goes. Should Canada follow China and Europe in labelling investments? Read the full story: c2cjournal.ca/2026/10/new-ma…

Every country in the European Union is legally bound to a climate goal that critics say no country has come close to meeting. Under the European Climate Law, the EU’s 27 member states must become climate-neutral by 2050, which is what North Americans call “net zero”. Reaching it means cutting greenhouse gas emissions, mainly by slashing fossil fuel use, until any remaining emissions can be removed from the atmosphere or directly offset, for example by planting trees. Buying “carbon offsets” no longer counts. The European Green Deal, unveiled in 2019, aims to make Europe the world’s “first climate-neutral continent”. The legally binding European Climate Law puts that goal into law and requires EU policies across all economic sectors, especially energy and finance, to align with it. Canada has its own version. The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act commits Canada to net zero by 2050. Critics argue that recent federal approvals, including LNG Canada Phase 2 and a fast-tracked Alberta-B.C. oil pipeline, would be impossible if Canada followed through on that law. The closest any country has come, critics note with some irony, is Cuba, where power outages now routinely last 23 hours a day. Observers argue that as long as the net-zero law stands, Canada’s biggest new energy projects are on a collision course with its own climate commitments. Should Canada keep its 2050 net-zero law on the books? Read the full story: c2cjournal.ca/2026/10/new-ma…