Canada can tackle climate change by repeating ozone-era co-operation

Yes, we can tackle climate change. We have done it before; we can do it again!

Just as wildfire smoke knows no borders, and cannot be halted with tariffs, but eventually affects every country in the world, so it is with greenhouse gases, and deadly radiation.

In a rare moment of international solidarity, 46 countries came together in September 1987 to sign an international treaty known as the Montreal Protocol. The purpose of this treaty was to reduce the production of ozone depleting substances.

Loss of the ozone layer would have a profound effect on Earth’s climate because the ozone layer protects life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In our use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) for refrigeration, fire extinguishers and other domestic and industrial applications, the effect on the ozone layer was not immediately recognized.

The treaty entered into force in January 1989. It has since been ratified by 198 nations, and the hole in the ozone layer is slowly healing as depleting gases are being phased out. This was made possible because scientific evidence was more widely accepted at that time. Political leaders accepted their responsibility to act for the well-being of the global population.

A comparable situation exists with our embrace of fossil fuels to power our industries and our lives, but which is now recognized as the main contributor to climate change. When the decision was made to destroy a vast area of land and boreal forest in Alberta known as the Athabasca Tar Sands, there was little consideration given to the effects on the atmosphere and biosphere.

The enormity of what was done to Earth was lost in the race to exploit the bitumen resource. Tailings ponds, built to store toxic wastewater from bitumen mining operations, now cover more than 300 square kilometres of land across northern Alberta’s Athabasca, Peace River, and Cold Lake regions, while 1.2 trillion litres of toxic wastewater are steadily leaking into the watershed and affecting residents and communities downstream.

While the fossil fuel industry's developed physical footprint is relatively small, its greenhouse gas emissions contribute massively to climate change, which increases the frequency and intensity of the hot, dry conditions that make large wildfires more likely.

Damage done to the planet and its atmosphere from the oil and gas industry, with its oil wells, tankers, and leaking pipelines, all in the name of progress, does not need to continue. With all nations working toward transitioning to renewable energy sources, a brighter future is within reach.

Oil companies such as Exxon have succeeded in casting doubt on the science of climate change, and continue to function as if they can drill, mine and frack indefinitely, without consequences. Scientists have proven that the burning of fossil fuels is the leading cause of climate change. The evidence is all around us in the form of heat domes, severe storms, flooding, melting glaciers, and more intense wildfires.

When Canada learned about the destruction of the ozone layer in 1987, we acted with global responsibility. To safeguard a livable Earth, we began phasing out the use of ozone-depleting substances. Now we need to move on from the production of fossil fuels to clean, abundant, cheaper sustainable sources of energy. Canada is currently losing the economic race by not urgently developing and producing the sustainable technologies available to us.

Where is the political will to face up to the problem? The solutions are known. We must act now for the sake of our children and all who follow. We can solve this problem by acting together.

We have done so before and we can do it again!

Read this article on Newmarket Today.