The ClimateFast newsletter shares information, resources, news, and activist opportunities about the climate crisis that may interest our readers, and does not necessarily reflect the views of ClimateFast members. If you have an event or resource you would like to share, please send it to newsletter@climatefast.ca.

ClimateFast has a long history of supporting climate action in the City of Toronto, through budget deputation trainings and other actions that play an important role in securing Council’s support for the TransformTO-Net Zero Strategy. This year, we worked with the Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN) to host a training session on the budget process and on how members of the public can voice their opinions. Many ClimateFast members shared their own deputations, both in writing and in person. Written comments can still be sent to the budget committee at buc@toronto.ca by Jan 23rd. Copy the Mayor (mayor_tory@toronto.ca) and your councillor (councillor_lastname@toronto.ca) and bcc climatefast@climatefast.ca

After the deputations at City Hall, January 17th. From left to right: Lee Adamson, Councillor Chris Moise, Budget Committee Chair Councillor Gary Crawford, Dr. Jacob Pendergrast, Councillor Alejandra Bravo, Anne Keary, Sharon Bider, Lyn Adamson, Mary Blake Bonn, Jacinta McDonnell

The Mayor has described this as a balanced budget. However it is not a balanced budget if it is generating a massive liability for the city in the form of costly climate damage to individual health, property, and the liveability of our city. It is not balanced if it is not meeting our community needs at the current moment and if it is stealing a safe climate future from those who are young now.

• See the ClimateFast website for our members' written and in-person deputations
• Find out what Toronto Environmental Alliance is calling for here
  
• Stop TTC Cuts! Tell Mayor Tory to fund lower fares and better TTC service, not policing
  
• Support CycleTO's asks via letter link here
• View the training session recording
• Watch Toronto City Councillor Gord Perks' Budget Town Hall
• Join Councillor Josh Matlow's Budget Town Halls
  
  • In person: January 31st, 6-8 pm, Deer Park Public Library, Meeting Rm 204.
    
  • Online: February 15th, 6:30 pm

The budget will be voted on by City Council on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.  This is the first year the Mayor has Strong Mayor powers.  Pressure is needed now for any changes that might be made in advance of the final vote.

ClimateFast has joined the We Can Do It campaign, led by the international climate advocacy group We Don’t Have Time. The campaign brings together leaders from a wide range of fields to call for climate action worldwide. Changemakers and leaders are invited to sign on!

Despite widespread public opposition, the Ontario government is pressing ahead with legislative changes that strip power from conservation authorities, open large areas of formerly protected land to development, and promote inefficient and destructive suburban sprawl. It is essential for Ontario residents to keep up the pressure to reverse these changes.

• Take action through the Greenbelt Promise Campaign
• See updates and ongoing actions from Stop Bill 23
• Join the Alliance for a Livable Ontario
  
• Join a rally and order a lawn sign via Environmental Defence
  
• Save the dates!  Feb 18 and Feb 21 - scroll down for details

The Ontario and Toronto governments are proceeding with plans to privatize much of Ontario Place, which is currently a freely accessible public park and an important green space in Toronto’s urban landscape. Advocates have launched the Ontario Place for All campaign to reverse this decision and ensure meaningful public participation in the redesign of the area.

Greta Thunberg and fellow youth leaders have prepared a letter calling on fossil fuel companies to immediately halt all new exploration and development, and warning of legal action if their call is ignored. They are asking for support from people worldwide.

Greenbelt Guardians are starting!  Contact lyn@climatefast.ca if you want to get involved.

Also save the dates of Feb 18th for a full day of preparation and training in Mississauga and February 21st for a day of protest at Queen's Park, when the legislature starts up again. Details to follow.

Please check the ClimateFast events calendar for additional events and updates!

A recent study has shown that Exxon’s climate change forecasts dating to the 1970s were highly accurate. The public has known about Exxon’s climate predictions, along with their subsequent coverup and misinformation campaign, since 2015, thanks to a groundbreaking investigative report from Inside Climate News and other news organizations. This new study confirms that global heating has progressed almost exactly as Exxon scientists predicted. 

Read the Energy Mix article
Read the CBC article

The United Arab Emirates, which will be hosting the United Nations’ COP28 climate conference later this year, recently appointed Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of state-owned oil company Adnoc, as the president of the conference. While Mr. Al Jaber also holds the role of chairman at the renewable energy company Masdar, environmental advocates have criticized the appointment as representing a serious conflict of interest.

Read the BBC article

In November 2022, the Ontario provincial government overruled the plan established by Hamilton’s municipal government, forcing a boundary expansion that will encroach on farmland and protected natural ecosystems. Advocacy group Ecojustice, working on behalf of Environmental Defence, has taken legal action against the province on the grounds that this move violates the principles of local democracy as well as causing unacceptable harm to the environment. 

Read the press release

A new report from Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health has found most major Canadian pension plans’ progress on climate issues sorely lacking. The report reviewed the investment plans of 11 of Canada’s largest pension funds, assessing their strategies in light of current climate science and international investment best practices. According to Shift, pensions’ failure to phase out fossil fuel investment not only impedes efforts to reduce emissions, it also puts beneficiaries’ investments at risk as more governments and businesses transition away from fossil fuel energy.

Read the press release
Read the Toronto Star article