Published in The Hill Times, 12 June 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to wake up to the climate emergency, and accept Canada’s obligation to reduce fossil fuel use and tackle global warming.
Dr. Trevor Hancock
1 June 2026
700 words
On June 18th 2019 – almost exactly seven years ago – The House of Commons voted 186 to 63 in support of a motion put forward by Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna to declare a national climate emergency. Since 2019, the climate emergency has only worsened.
Globally, our emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases continue to increase. The International Energy Agency reported in its 2026 energy review that total energy-related CO2 emissions reached a new high in 2025. Unsurprisingly, this was matched by a “record atmospheric CO2 concentrations of about 427 parts-per-million (ppm) . . . around 50% above pre-industrial levels.”
Also unsurprisingly, global temperatures remain troublingly high. The World Meteorological Organization recently reported that “2025 was one of the three warmest years on record” (following the top two years of 2023 and 2024) and that “the past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record”, while “ocean heating continues unabated.”
A commentary in One Earth in February 2026 by several leading Earth scientists states: “Earth’s climate is now departing from the stable conditions that supported human civilization for millennia” and asks “Are we now at risk of crossing planetary tipping points and triggering a hothouse Earth trajectory?”
In April the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Meteorological Organization reported that higher temperatures are pushing food systems to the brink. This results from a combination of stressed livestock, falling yields of crops, including staples such as maize and wheat, and ocean heatwaves killing fish. Moreover, high temperatures make it hard for farmers to work safely outdoors in many hot regions.
Then in May, the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health, convened by the European Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), called climate change “a catastrophic threat to human health, security and social stability” and called on the WHO “to formally declare climate change as a public health emergency of international concern.”
Let’s be clear, declaring climate change as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) puts it on the same threat level as Covid, Ebola and other infectious disease outbreaks that are so far the only basis on which WHO has declared a PHEIC. In fact, I would argue that it is a greater threat than any of these, because of its potential to undermine the security and stability of civilisation as a whole.
And what is Canada’s response to this climate emergency? You can almost hear the Carney government saying ‘climate emergency? What climate emergency?’ Much to the dismay of those fighting for climate action, who expected better of Mark Carney, the government has been undermining Canada’s increasingly dismal record on climate action.
Back in November 2025 the independent Climate Action Tracker’s latest report, “downgraded Canada’s overall rating to ‘Highly Insufficient,’ primarily due to weakened policy ambition, slow implementation, and a widening gap between current emissions levels and Canada’s 2030 target.”
And that was before Mr. Carney cosied up to Alberta, supporting expanded fossil fuel production and exports and lowering the industrial carbon price. Said former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a recent interview with CTV: “By the end of the year analysis will show that Canada has one of the worst track records. I think we’ll go back to the back of the pack.”
Instead of his harmful effort to make Canada a conventional energy superpower, Mr. Carney should follow the recommendations of the Pan-European Commission, which called on heads of government to “to bring climate change to the agenda of national security councils or equivalent bodies, engaging all relevant ministries.”
He should also pay heed to the second recommendation to heads of government from the Commission: “to establish, within their ministries or cabinets, a sustainable mechanism with a specific mandate to support action on climate change and health.”
The government needs to walk its own talk. On May 21st, Canada was the co-sponsor of a UN resolution, adopted in a 141 – 8 vote, affirming the International Court of Justice’s July 2025 advice that states are obligated to reduce fossil fuel use and tackle global warming.
So wake up to the climate emergency, Mr. Carney, and accept Canada’s obligation to reduce fossil fuel use and tackle global warming.
© Trevor Hancock, 2026
Dr. Trevor Hancock is a retired professor and senior scholar at the
University of Victoria’s School of Public Health and Social Policy
Dr. Trevor Hancock - Healthy people, healthy communities, a healthy planet 