If you are reading this on the web or someone has emailed you this newsletter, you can sign up for Globe Climate and all Globe newsletters. here.

Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter on climate change, the environment and resources in Canada.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced proposals outlining how to regulate and standardize corporate emissions disclosure, clarify the risks of political and physical changes resulting from the climate crisis, and explain goals and plans. of transition. In response, the shoe industry has put its foot down, so to speak.

In a submission to the SEC, America’s Footwear Distributors and Retailers said such disclosures would be costly and onerous, if the companies could even get the information in the first place. The footwear industry’s backlash is emblematic of the “political Pandora’s box” that the SEC’s disclosure recommendations have become, writes Jeffrey Jones this week; General Motors, Exxon Mobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum and the American Bankers Association also raised concerns about the disclosure proposal.

And, as a similar debate unfolds in Canada, as investors push regulators to align climate reporting requirements with tougher international standards, the question of whether the SEC, a flagship regulator, will go from forward with its climate agenda is a matter of far-reaching implications. .

Now we’ll catch up with you on other news.

Noteworthy report this week:

1. NATO Summit: During the three-day summit in Madrid, it was revealed that DIANA (the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) and the NATO Climate Center will each have offices in Canada.
2. Green gardening: A rare insect, the Rusty-patched Bumblebee, inspired two Ontarians to write a guide to creating habitat for native pollinators.
3. Renewable energy: In a first for Alberta, the City of Edmonton has signed an agreement with Ontario-based Capstone Infrastructure Corp. to buy wind power and help decarbonize city operations.
4. Drought: A devastating drought in the Horn of Africa has triggered a spike in malnutrition and the looming threat of famine, with millions increasingly at risk of starvation.
5. Natural gas: As European countries strive to reduce their dependence on natural gas, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said private sector proposals to export liquefied natural gas from Canada’s east coast will have to go from l before without federal funding.
6. From the Narwhal: Everything you need to know about Winnipeg’s ambitious new plan to reach net zero by 2050.

A deeper dive

2021 BC Wildfires Hit Artist Brian Jungen

Marsha Lederman is Western Arts Correspondent for The Globe and Mail. For this week’s deeper dive, she talks about speaking with artist Brian Jungen, whose studio in British Columbia was destroyed by last year’s devastating wildfires.

In 2014, Brian Jungen purchased property in the Okanagan where he would live and work. The job would be twofold: he would ranch, and he would have a large studio where he could continue to make the art that made him famous. Jungen, who is Dane-Zaa, is an internationally acclaimed artist, probably best known for creating Northwest Coast mask-like sculptures from deconstructed Nike Air Jordan sneakers. These works, known as Prototypes for new understanding, caused a stir and made Jungen world famous beyond art. He has won awards and presented solo exhibitions in Canada and around the world, in prestigious institutions such as the Tate Modern in London.

Success allowed him to buy this ranch near Vernon and set up his workshop there.

On August 15, 2021, a Sunday, Jungen’s ranch was destroyed. The White Rock Lake fire descended one side of the valley and the other, wiping out Jungen’s workshop along the way, including work in progress and all of its archives.

Jungen himself had been evacuated from the property a few days earlier, but he had been unable to get his cattle out. Five days after the fire, he succeeded in obtaining a permit to return to see his cattle.

“When we got back it was still an active fire. And it was completely unrecognizable. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was like being on the moon,” Jungen told me. during a Zoom conversation last month.

The cattle miraculously survived. And the two houses on the property were saved, probably because he had soaked them with the irrigation system before the evacuation. But a huge fir tree fell on the main house and destroyed it as well.

“Many of you who have visited over the years will not recognize the ranch as it was,” Jungen posted on Instagram in September, along with a video showing the devastation.

That’s how I learned about the fire. Sitting in the comfort of my home in Vancouver, scrolling through Instagram on my phone. I was shocked. I have previously interviewed Jungen and written about his work. And long before that, I was a fan of his work.

On a human level, it has always been a pleasure to interview: attentive, generous. So smart. Interested and interesting. Kindly.

All summer I had been surrounded by climate catastrophe – the heat dome, the destruction of Lytton, and so on.

But seeing this Instagram post, it got personal. It was someone I knew. An artist whose work I revere. How many of these works had been destroyed? It really hit home.

But not, of course, as if it struck Jungen. And for many, many other British Columbians during the horrible summer of 2021.

What else did you miss

Opinion and analysis

Adam Radwansky: In its decision against the EPA, the US Supreme Court dealt another blow to Biden’s climate agenda.

Emily Waugh: Canada’s varied landscapes and extreme climates define both the people who live here and the way we talk.

Kelly Cryderman: F1 driver Sebastian Vettel, who protested Alberta’s tar sands, is not the climate spokesman the world needs.

Green investment

While many companies publicly commit to being ESG champions, real ESG progress requires the active involvement and support of decision makers at all levels. But within many of these companies, there are leaders who are stalling this progress – known as hidden dissidents – who champion ESG in public, merely idle or even oppose ESG initiatives. in private.

Many executives simply don’t believe in the value of ESG: A recent study of Swiss energy investors found that investment managers’ implicit attitudes toward clean energy more strongly predicted their actual energy investments solar than their explicit attitudes. So, in the context of recent heightened regulatory scrutiny of ESG services, policymakers need to be able to spot dissidents using behavioral cues to protect their investments.

Failure to address these obstacles at the top can lead to a culture of hidden dissenters that permeates the entire company, interfering with real ESG progress.

make waves

We will be taking a break from posting profiles this summer! But we’re always looking for great people to feature. Contact us to have someone included in our “making waves” section after Labor Day.

Do you know a committed person? Someone who represents the real drivers of change in the country? Email us at [email protected] to tell us about it.

Picture of the week

Guides and explainers

Find Globe Climate

We want to hear from you. Email us: [email protected]. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.