“In the current economic and geopolitical climate, this pipeline talk must be taken seriously, despite the lack of a concrete project proposal”
Climate change is reshaping the world’s resource systems, shifting fish stocks across borders, straining water, energy, and food supplies, and exposing tensions between climate ambition and economic policy. Canada’s push for new pipelines amid its climate-leadership claims is just one example of the contradictions countries are wrestling with. At SPPGA, faculty and students are examining these challenges as interconnected, global questions, studying how environmental change drives political conflict, economic adaptation, and struggles for justice.
Canada’s Climate Contradiction: Pipelines and Promises
As Ottawa and Alberta negotiated a new oil pipeline to British Columbia’s north coast in November 2025, Professor Emeritus George Hoberg at SPPGA provided expert analysis of a deal that crystallizes tensions between climate commitments and fossil fuel development.
Speaking to CBC Radio and Abby News, Professor Hoberg explained the unusual dynamics at play. While negotiations before a concrete project proposal are uncommon, the economic and geopolitical climate following Trump’s re-election and tariff threats has made finding new trade partners a priority. Hoberg, who has written extensively on the politics of pipelines, suggested this could be a strategy to secure Alberta’s support for federal climate policies, a past approach in pipeline negotiations, though success would still require substantial First Nations support. The deal, formally announced on November 27, includes federal support for a pipeline carrying a million barrels of oil daily to the Pacific coast, contingent on Alberta implementing stricter carbon pricing and investing billions in carbon capture technology, an arrangement that attempts to balance fossil fuel expansion with climate action, though critics question whether such compromises can meet Canada’s climate targets. Listen to CBC coverage | Read the News article
Nuclear Infrastructure Under Pressure
As climate extremes intensify, nuclear facilities are facing vulnerabilities once considered distant risks. SPPGA Director and former NRC chair Prof. Allison Macfarlane, with co-author and former SPPGA Postdoctoral Research Fellow J. Pizarro, examined how heatwaves, flooding, algae blooms, and cooling-water shortages are already disrupting nuclear plants in Canada, the United States, and France.
In Progress in Nuclear Energy, Impacts of climate extremes on nuclear power plants in Canada, the U.S., and France (2026), they show that rising water temperatures and extreme weather have forced power reductions and shutdowns, from algae-related outages at Pickering to heat-wave curtailments across the French fleet. Macfarlane and Pizarro caution that without adaptation measures, climate-driven outages and costs are likely to increase, making resilience planning essential for nuclear energy’s future. Read the article
When Climate Solutions Ignore Local Realities
Canada isn’t alone in wrestling with climate contradictions. Across the globe, well-intentioned climate initiatives often fail because they ignore the people and ecosystems they claim to protect. Professor Rashid Sumaila, cross-appointed with the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, joined African-based scientists to challenge how natural climate solutions are designed and implemented across the continent.
Writing in Nature Sustainability, “Six principles to get natural climate solutions right in Africa,” the authors argue in their October 2025 commentary that many global initiatives misclassify Africa’s grasslands and savannahs as degraded forests, leading to harmful afforestation projects that damage biodiversity and displace communities. The authors propose six principles that center on African aspirations and recognize that these ecosystems have co-evolved with people over millennia. They emphasize: “We argue that a more balanced approach is needed; one that prioritizes aggressive emission reductions from industrialized nations while simultaneously supporting appropriate and equitable climate mitigation and adaptation investments in Africa.” The authors conclude with a stark warning: “Critically, we must abandon the mindset that investing in African climate solutions is going to be a cheap way to buy ourselves out of the climate catastrophe.” Read the full article
The Hidden Inequality in Climate Policy
Climate change and the policies meant to address it don’t affect everyone equally. Professors Rashid Sumaila and Philippe Le Billon, cross-appointed with the department of Geography, co-authored a study examining how gender inequality intersects with climate change and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in small-scale fisheries worldwide.
Published in Discover Sustainability (2025), Gender dynamics, climate change threats and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing synthesizes 189 studies to show how structural barriers limit women’s ability to adapt as marine resources face growing pressure. The authors argue that gender-responsive fisheries governance is essential for resilience, offering pathways to strengthen equity and community capacity in climate-sensitive regions. Read the full article.
The Climate Cost of What We Eat
Food-related emissions are also deeply unequal. A study by Prof. Navin Ramankutty (SPPGA/IRES) and co-author Juan Diego Martinez, published in Environmental Research Letters – Food Systems, finds that 2.7 billion people already exceed the dietary emissions compatible with a 2°C climate goal, while millions still lack adequate nutrition.
Their analysis shows the top 15% of global consumers emit as much through food systems as the bottom 50% combined, underscoring the need for consumption-side reforms among high emitters, paired with improved food access for vulnerable populations. Read the full article
Learn more about the research of Rashid Sumaila, Philippe Le Billon, George Hoberg, Allison McFarlance, and Navin Ramankutty
