Book Review: Canada and Climate Change

Canada and Climate Change

Author: William Leiss

Publisher: McGill-Queen’s University Press, hardcover, 181 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

At the time of this volume’s publication (2022), William Leiss was/is a fellow and past president of the Royal Society of Canada, an officer of the Order of Canada, and professor emeritus at the School of Policy Studies Queen’s University. He is the author of several books, including Mad Cows and Mother’s Milk: The Perils of Poor Risk Communication.

Contents

This volume is the second one of the Canadian Essentials Series, published jointly by McGill-Queen’s University Press and the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. It contains Tables and Figures, Preface, Introduction, 1 What Is Climate? 2 The Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs, 3 Predictions of Climate Science, 4 Trusting Climate Science, 5 Canada: Negotiating Climate Change, 6 Treaty Framing and Climate Science, 7 Managing the Risks of Global Warming, 8 Canada: Mitigation, Impacts, and Adaptation, Reminiscences and Acknowledgments, Appendix 1: Notes and Calculations for Table 6.4, Appendix 2: The Risk Approach in IPCC’s AR6, Impacts of Climate Change, References and Sources, Index. 

Brief Observations

The author begins by stating that in light of the copious written material on climate change, to write yet another book “might well be regarded as a monumentally foolish endeavour” (p. xi). He refers to the polar ends of the pendulum regarding attitudes toward climate change in fossil-fuel-producing countries, which have paralyzed politicians, thus failing to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions for the past thirty years. The audience Leiss hopes to reach is “the educated general reader,” and “secondary-school students, as well as college and university students enrolled in introductory courses” (p. xii).  One of the purposes of writing this volume is to affirm the legitimacy of climate scientists and their research, as well as highlight how countries have responded—or have failed to respond appropriately—to climate science research and reports. 

Leiss suggests that Canada needs to tackle three things in response to climate change/crisis: Mitigation—the how and why of reducing GHG emissions; how Canadians will likely need to adapt to climate change/crisis, and justice/equity—Canadian responses to achieve goals with consequences for all of humankind. 

As early as the nineteenth century, a connection has been made with CO2 (carbon dioxide) and the warming of the earth’satmosphere. It came to the fore again in the twentieth century, but alas, humankind failed to take it seriously enough to do anything about it. 

It wasn’t until 1988, at the International Conference on the Changing Atmosphere: Implications for Global Security, held in Toronto that the Canadian federal government and the governments of other countries started to make promises to reduce GHG emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has, in thousands of pages, warned the nations of the tragic consequences of ongoing climate change/crisis, which will only worsen if significant action is not taken. However, the agreements, including the one in Paris in 2015 have not been binding. Nations have set goals to reduce GHG emissions by 2030 and 2050. Scientists predict that surpassing a 1.5 degree C warming threshold by 2030, and a 2 degree C threshold by 2050 will likely be catastrophic. So far, Canada and other nations have drastically failed to reach these goals, and most likely will not reach them for a variety of reasons. For example, the oil and gas industry is still funded with billions of dollars, and China is still building coal plants. The developed nations are not spending enough money to fund alternative, environmentally-friendly energy sources in the developing countries. Far too many people doubt the research of climate scientists and live in denial of climate change/crisis. The federal and provincial governments lack the political will to act significantly to reduce CO2 and other GHG emissions. 

This volume is informative, challenging and depressing. Hope for the future is required to motivate citizens, governments and industry to move more quickly to reduce GHG emissions. We need more than analysis, facts and figures, treaties and agreements. Therefore the author could have concluded this volume with a couple of chapters on contributions of First Nations and environmental organisations, and how citizens can connect with them to advocate and work for change and make a difference. Specific stories of what First Nations and environmental organisations are doing and have accomplished would inspire hope for the future.