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NOVEMBER  2025

This ClimateFast newsletter shares information about the Climate Crisis that may interest our readers, but does not necessarily reflect the views of ClimateFast as an organization, nor those of its members. If you have an event or resource you would like to share, please send it to newsletter@climatefast.ca.

PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter may be truncated when you receive it; click on 'view entire message' at bottom to see the full document.
 
 
CLIMATEFAST IN ACTION
 

    CF @ TO City Hall Oct 28 | CF in Ottawa w/ CCL Oct 20  | CF meets with city councillor Oct 14
 

WARDS PROJECT UPDATE
 
Wards teams are in the process of setting meetings, or following up on meetings, with their councillors, in support of the new TransformTO action plan for 2026-2030, scheduled to come before City Council in December (i.e., December 4 to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, and December 16-18 to City Council). It's a crucial time for pursuing connections with city councillors to build support for an ambitious climate action plan.
 
The plan should be introduced along with a Buildings Emissions Performance Standards (BEPS) bylaw which we are also advocating for. Everyone is encouraged to advocate for this 'BEPS' bylaw by:
(i) attending the Nov 5 advocacy meeting (see item at top of this newsletter)
(ii) sending a letter here to your councillor, the Mayor, and the chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee calling on them to approve new green building standards for existing buildings this fall
 

CLIMATE VOTING RECORDS WEBSITE
Find the VR site at votingrecords.climatefast.ca  |     Follow us on Instagram @climatefastaction
 
CALLS TO ACTION
 

HAVE YOUR SAY on AI DATA CENTRES IN ONTARIO!
 ClimateFast has prepared a response to the Environmental Registry of Ontario on the province's plan to approve major AI (artificial intelligence) data centres in Ontario here. Please have your climate, social or community group sign on by Tuesday, November 3 at 8:30pm. Thank you and spread the word!
 
Alternatively, if you're interested in submitting an individual response, please see some sample responses here.
 

A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT IS THE BOTTOM LINE!

We can’t let Canada’s federal budget, due on November 4, be the next environmental backslide, but the sneak peeks we’ve seen don’t look promising for nature or the climate.

Building Canada means investing in nature protection and restoration, building a clean electricity grid and supporting Indigenous-led conservation. It doesn’t mean digging in our heels — or raising our elbows — for fossil fuels.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE FEDS
 

ONTARIO'S NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE

At midnight, October 31, the Ford government stuck  us with a 29% increase in electricity generation costs due to our dependence on high cost nuclear.

To offset this increase on your electricity bill, Premier Ford raised the taxpayer-financed Ontario Electricity Rebate from 13.1% to 23.5%.

Raising taxes to subsidize electricity prices doesn’t make sense (unless of course you own nuclear or gas companies e.g. OPG, GE Hitachi, Bruce Power, and Enbridge).

Tell Premier Ford to lower our electricity rates AND taxes by investing in low-cost wind and solar power, and cancelling the construction of new high-cost, U.S. nuclear reactors..

CLICK HERE TO  SEND A LETTER TO PREMIER FORD
 
COMING EVENTS
 
No Faith in Fossil Fuels

When: Monday, November 10; 10:30 am - 12 :30 pm

Where: Ralph Thornton Community Centre, 765 Queen St E.

Who: Faith & Climate Action

What else: An interfaith service and walk calling on Canada's leaders to commit to renewables not pipelines at COP 30

COP 30 - 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference

When: November 10 - 21, 2025

Where: Belem, Brazil

Who: Hosted by Gov't of Brazil

What else: Attendees include representatives from over 190 countries, including heads of state, government officials, scientists, business leaders, non-governmental organizations, and civil society actors.
Climate Reality Project

When: Wednesday, November 19; 2 pm

Where: on Zoom

Who: Hosted by Climate Reality Canada

What else: Part 2 of Mobilizing for Local  Climate Action... Advancing Local Climate Action through Participatory Democracy -  register here.

 In Pursuit of Polystyrene: Preventing Polystyrene Foam Pollution in Lake Ontario 

When: Tuesday, November 18; 1 -2 pm

Where: on Zoom

Who: Partners in Project Green and U of T's Trash Team

What else: Key findings from the project will be presented, which explores the problem ... of foam insulation and other construction materials leaking into our local environment.  Register here.
North York Climate Roundtable 

When: Monday, November 24; 6-8 pm

Where: North York Central Library

Who: Hosted by Ward 18 Councillor Lily Cheng

What else: Topics include food insecurity, retrofitting, climate education

Here Comes the Sun: Book Launch w/ Bill McKibben

When: Monday November 24; 5:30 - 6:30 pm

Where: Rotman School of Mgmt @ U of T

Who: Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben

What else:  Click here to register to attend  in-person or virtually. And/or click here for a video of the recent CALL discussion of this book.

For Our Health and the Health of Our Earth

When: November 25; 1 pm

Where: on Zoom

Who: Diana Beresford-Kroeger

What else: Diana Beresford-Kroeger is a world recognized author, medical biochemist, botanist and climate change visionary. She possesses a unique understanding of modern western science and ancient Celtic knowledge. Diana’s legacy project is to clone and map the entire global forest. Register here.
 
RESOURCES & INFORMATION
 

2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change

The 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), finds that 12 of 20 key indicators tracking health threats have reached record levels, showing how climate inaction is costing lives, straining health systems, and undermining economies. WHO and global partners are calling for the protection of people’s health to be recognized as the most powerful driver of climate action.

The Macroeconomic Impact of Climate Change - World Economic Forum

For every one degree of temperature rise, the world loses 12% of GDP, says the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Scientists predict a 3°C temperature rise by the end of this century due to the ongoing burning of fossil fuels, which the NBER report says will cause “precipitous declines in output, capital and consumption that exceed 50% by 2100.”

Extreme Weather Report - Oct 2025

A quick look at global extreme weather - rain and floods, wildfires & smoke, hurricanes (high ocean water temps) ...
 
FINAL THOUGHTS
 

Excerpted from The Energy Mix - What does AI Cost us Environmentally? Cities Could Demand Answers (Oct 8, 2025):

"Many cities are rightly excited to explore how AI can improve their operations—from using machine learning to support asset management in Montreal, to cracking down on short-term rental bylaw compliance in London, Ontario. But when AI’s physical infrastructure, like new data centres, hits the ground at the local level, it can create new pressures. Cities must weigh an AI project’s benefits against its environmental costs, as was the case when Dublin rejected a Google data centre proposal over concerns the city lacked enough energy to power it.

Broadly speaking, AI consumes energy and water in two main ways: training large models and generating outputs, or “inference”...There are too many types of AI to produce a clean and easy metric for understanding energy and water use.

If Canada’s AI strategy is to be credible and sustainable, it must account for environmental transparency and support for local governments. Only then can AI’s progress align with our collective climate ambitions for a healthier, safer, and just future."
 

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