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Climate and Environment

    • German leader champions new tack on climate at Davos event

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    GENEVA -

    New German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Wednesday for a "paradigm shift" in the way the world approaches climate policy, saying his country would leverage its presidency of the Group of Seven industrial nations this year to push for standards to fight global warming.

    Climate discussions have been a key theme this week at a World Economic Forum meeting, which is being held online after COVID-19 concerns delayed its annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland. It included a panel with U.S. special envoy on climate John Kerry and billionaire Bill Gates that featured ideas environmentalists and scientists have challenged: that innovations yet to be invented or used widely would help drastically reduce emissions.

    Unlike events such as last year's UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the Davos meeting is more of a discussion of big ideas -- not where concrete agreements are made on how to act. Critics regularly fault the Davos event, whose origins date to 1971, for hosting economic and political elites who voice high-minded but often empty goals that are deemed out of touch with the needs of regular people.

    In an address, Scholz focused on ambitions by Germany and the wider European Union to fight climate change.

    "Europe has decided to become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050; Germany wants to reach that goal in 2045 already a monumental task, but a task that we can and will master," he said.

    Scholz added that Germany will use its G7 presidency to "turn that group into the nucleus of an international climate club."

    "What we want to achieve is a paradigm shift in international climate policy. We will no longer wait for the slowest and least ambitious," he said. "Instead, we will lead by example, and we will turn climate action from a cost factor into competitive advantage by agreeing on joint minimum standards."

    Scholz said the "climate club," which he first announced months ago when he was finance minister, would be open to all countries.

    Several groups of countries have similar goals, including the High Ambition Coalition that aims to achieve the strictest target in the Paris climate accord -- limiting global warming to 1.5 C by the end of the century compared with pre-industrial times.

    Critics say such groups often include members with less-than-stellar climate records. Both Germany and the United States, for example, are not on track to meet their emission reduction goals and have pushed back against granting poor countries the kind of funding they seek to tackle climate change.

    The targets Scholz suggested for the climate club -- the 1.5-degree cap and climate neutrality by 2050 -- are already part of or implied by the Paris accord. More significant, Scholz said the club could seek to achieve those goals "by pricing carbon and preventing carbon leakage."

    Those proposals are designed to prevent companies from shifting carbon-heavy industries to countries with less stringent emissions rules and putting nations like Germany at a competitive disadvantage.

    While the idea has strong support within the European Union, whose members are used to negotiating compromise agreements for the common good, getting the U.S. and major developing countries such as China and India on board will be trickier.

    Representing the U.S., Kerry urged businesses and governments to accelerate efforts to get technologies to scale that will help drastically reduce carbon emissions. Speaking on a panel about climate innovation, Kerry said most "critical technologies" needed to reduce emissions were not moving fast enough.

    "The world has to pick up the pace," he said.

    He and other panelists talked about "carbon capture," the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide before it gets into the atmosphere, and "green hydrogen," splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen with energy from low-carbon sources.

    The idea that technologies and markets are central to the climate change fight is a popular in some circles but also controversial because technologies like carbon capture are expensive, energy intensive and far from being used widely.

    Carbon capture also was mentioned by an energy company executive in a separate panel on the energy transition, where Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, stressed that the major oil producer was "proactively engaged with everybody" as the world tries to reduce emissions.

    The prince said fossil fuels would play a role alongside renewables and urged countries to use "every tool in the kit," including cleaner ways to use fossil fuels rather than simply eliminating them.

    A group of Latin American leaders also discussed climate change in another panel, urging accountability from the largest carbon-emitting nations and help funding green agendas.

    Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei tied climate change to migration in the region because it saps resources, hampering growth opportunities. He said Central America barely causes 0.33% of greenhouse gases, but countries there "suffer the most."

    "Every year, we have to rebuild the country because there are hurricanes," Giammattei said. "Many of our resources that should be dedicated to the generation of new opportunities must be directed toward the construction of roads, bridges, drinking water systems."

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    Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City and Peter Prengaman in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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    Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

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    The New Brunswick RCMP has issued an alert as officers search for an armed teenager in the Moncton and Shediac areas.

    An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    Canada

    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

    • BREAKING

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      The New Brunswick RCMP has issued an alert as officers search for an armed teenager in the Moncton and Shediac areas.

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    • BREAKING

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      Michael Ford, Ontario's minister of citizenship and multiculturalism, says he is taking a leave of absence from cabinet to prioritize his health.

    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

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    Entertainment

    • It will be the last show for longtime children's TV star Ron (Buck Shot) Barge as a memorial is held Friday in Calgary.

    • Viewers of Jeopardy got a chance to test their knowledge of trivia about B.C.'s biggest city Wednesday night.

    Business

    Lifestyle

    • They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    Sports

    • Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the two sides announced Friday.

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    Autos

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.

    Local Spotlight

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    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

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    A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

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    Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

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      Michael Ford, Ontario's minister of citizenship and multiculturalism, says he is taking a leave of absence from cabinet to prioritize his health.

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    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    • It will be the last show for longtime children's TV star Ron (Buck Shot) Barge as a memorial is held Friday in Calgary.

    • China's ongoing ban on Canadian beef appears to have no end in sight, making it a textbook example of the uncertainty Canadian exporters continue to face in that market.

    • Alberta Health Services says an E. coli outbreak at a daycare in Blackfalds has ended.

    • Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the two sides announced Friday.

    • Ottawa Fire Services says a driver has been safely extricated after being trapped following a two-vehicle collision near a high school in the city’s south end.

    • The Ottawa Police Service Arson Unit is seeking witnesses to a fire that happened early Friday morning in a two-storey commercial building in Little Italy.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

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    • Mounties say there was an increased police presence in the Emerald Hills area of Sherwood Park on Friday morning as officers searched for a man who is wanted by police.

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      The New Brunswick RCMP has issued an alert as officers search for an armed teenager in the Moncton and Shediac areas.

    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes 'indescribable' pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

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    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

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    • The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) has made an arrest following a fire that claimed the lives of two people.

    • Driving into the tunnels of Nutrien's Rocanville mine, the largest potash mine in the world by production volume, feels like driving down a lonely highway in the middle of the night.

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    • Guelph resident, Susan Bard, is being remembered as a vibrant community advocate and volunteer who died doing what she loved – cycling.

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    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

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    • Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.

    • Provincial police are investigating vandalism in Huntsville after the "senseless destruction" of flower displays along Main Street East.

    • A 17-year-old from Markham is facing serious charges after an August 11 shooting at a party in Caledon.

    • Windsor police say a 25-year-old mother has been charged with the drowning death of her 5-year-old child in the family’s backyard pool.

    • There is no threats to public safety following an incident involving a gun at a local high school.

    • Windsor fire is on scene at an incident on McDougall Street.

    • The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) has declared a state of emergency in all 14 of its member First Nations due to a mental health and opioid crisis.

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    • The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

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    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.

    • A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.

    • Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.

    • Ontario Provincial Police say three suspects from southern Ontario have been charged and drugs worth $300,000 have been seized following a traffic stop Sept. 16.

    • A Brampton driver, 27, was charged this week when northern Ontario police stopped the SUV he was driving on Highway 17 after a reported shooting and found more than $100,000 in cash.

    • A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.

    N.L.

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