Across the world, many countries are starting to take stronger steps to protect the climate. They are doing this because floods, fires, droughts, and heatwaves are getting worse. These disasters are destroying homes, harming families, and damaging economies. People want leaders to act, and some governments are beginning to listen.
A turning point that shows two different paths
Last week, the United Kingdom made a bold move. It announced a ban on new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea. It also strengthened taxes on fossil fuel profits and moved faster to end subsidies that support those industries. These actions show that the country accepts that the world’s energy system is changing and that older, richer nations must change with it.
These steps came during the same week that deadly floods swept through parts of Southeast Asia. More than a thousand people lost their lives, and over a million were forced to flee their homes. The link between worsening disasters and fossil-fuel use is becoming harder to ignore. That is why many people saw the UK’s move as a sign of leadership and responsibility.
But at the same time, Canada took a very different direction.
A backwards step at a critical moment
Canada signed a new deal with one of its provinces to support building another major oil pipeline. This pipeline would make it easier to increase oil sands production, even though global agreements call for reducing the use of fossil fuels.
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The deal does more than approve a pipeline. It delays methane rules meant to cut dangerous emissions. The deal removes limits on pollution from the oil and gas sector. It also gives the province a pass on clean-electricity requirements. At the same time, leaders are planning to weaken environmental reviews, relax rules on misleading climate claims, and pause the national electric vehicle sales mandate.
This shift has raised alarm because it goes against what scientists have been saying for years. Many communities, including Indigenous groups on the Pacific coast, have warned that more oil tankers would put their lands and waters at even greater risk. Yet the push to expand fossil fuel infrastructure continues.
Supporters of Canada’s decision say it is simply “realistic.” They argue that the country must support its oil and gas industry for economic reasons. But the reality is that the world is moving away from fossil fuels, not toward them. Extreme weather in Asia, droughts, wildfires, and major storms are constant reminders of what continued dependence on oil and gas means for people everywhere.
Some government and industry officials claim that carbon capture and storage is the solution. They say this technology can allow Canada to keep producing oil while reducing emissions. But after decades of investment, many projects still fall short, and even the most optimistic scenarios show that this technology can only address a small part of the pollution from a barrel of oil. Most emissions come when the fuel is burned, not produced. Building new pipelines while relying on an incomplete fix is like telling someone to smoke filtered cigarettes while ignoring the harm that smoking itself causes.
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International agreements tell a similar story. At a major global climate summit in 2023, nearly every country—including Canada—agreed to begin moving away from fossil fuels. Yet a pipeline that can carry an extra million barrels a day takes the country in the opposite direction of what it promised. You cannot phase something out by building more of it.
At the same time, dozens of countries are working together on plans to reduce fossil fuel use. A growing group supports creating a roadmap for phasing them out. Several nations are even exploring a new treaty focused only on ending fossil fuel expansion. These efforts show growing momentum around the world, even as Canada appears to be stepping back.
A world moving forward while Canada turns away
Many national leaders are choosing a side. Some are doubling down on fossil fuels. Others are choosing to protect people, jobs, and the economy from worsening climate impacts. This choice has never been more important. Air pollution linked to fossil fuels is responsible for millions of deaths every year. Heat made worse by climate change is claiming lives every minute. These are not future predictions; they are happening now.
At a time when global investments in clean energy have grown much larger than investments in fossil fuels, many nations are shifting their industries and creating new jobs. China installed more solar power in one year than every other country combined. Many governments see the direction the world is heading and are adjusting early.
This is why Canada’s shift stands out so sharply. It is one of the few countries choosing to expand fossil fuel production just as the rest of the world begins to wind it down. It is strengthening the very industries at the heart of the climate crisis while other nations are building alliances to phase them out.
Canada often talks about planning for the future and preparing for where the world is going. But right now, the country is moving in the opposite direction. Instead of stepping forward, it is sliding backward at a moment when the world needs every nation to push ahead.
Canada’s choices matter. They affect people, communities, and the global effort to limit climate damage. As other countries set examples of leadership, cooperation, and change, Canada’s return to fossil fuel expansion looks less like realism and more like surrender—a quiet step back at the very moment when stepping forward matters most.
