Canada beyond Trump: Climate rages on as our greatest challenge

National Observer

2 days ago

Long after the current US government has gone, the climate crisis will remain the greatest existential threat of our time.
While it's no surprise the recent Canadian federal election was dominated by the immediacy of unprecedented US threats against us, the environment is critically intertwined with every major issue, ranging from Canadian sovereignty to the economy, jobs, housing and health. Whether we're talking about it or not, the climate crisis continues to escalate, affecting nearly every facet of our lives. Canadians and our new federal government must recognize that strong climate policies now will ultimately make or break our future, and that of our children.
The climate crisis shortens lifespans, costing both lives and dollars. Health experts worldwide, ranging from the World Health Organization to the Canadian Public Health Association, recognize climate change as the greatest health challenge of the 21st century. Burning fossil fuels, including the potent so-called 'natural' gas, generates both carbon pollution that causes climate change and toxic air pollution associated with widespread human health harms. Air pollution is linked to roughly one in seven premature deaths in Canada, while burning fossil fuels is linked to one in five deaths worldwide. Climate change contributes to health harms through extreme weather and heat, food insecurity, proliferating infectious diseases and more. Both climate change and air pollution are associated with severe mental health harms, including depression and suicide, especially impacting our youth.
Environmental impacts increase the burden of diseases requiring care, while also damaging our health care systems at massive financial cost. Together, these risks are making our health system entirely unsustainable. Climate change is already slowing Canada's economy, with costs in 2025 estimated at $25 billion. This cuts Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in half, hurting every household in the country. As far back as 2016, the economic cost of premature deaths associated with air pollution across Canada was estimated at $114 billion annually.
Over the next few decades, climate change is expected to trigger up to an additional $100 billion per year or more in health-related costs alone due to the impacts of heat, ground-level ozone, infectious diseases and more. Policies that get us off fossil fuels and fight climate change would effectively lower those costs, reduce illness and relieve pressure on the already overstretched Canadian health system, while keeping pace with global decarbonization trends. We would all benefit. Slashing billions from government services to fund massive military spending, while building pipelines and attempting to keep a fossil-fuel-based economy on life support, are not the way forward. They are simply archaic.
Every dollar invested in climate action pays back approximately two dollars in health care savings alone — a doubled return on investment that more than pays for itself. Pollution pricing is one of the most effective — and yet least expensive — tools to slash both air pollution and carbon pollution that threaten our livable future. In the lead up to the federal election, we lost consumer-facing pollution pricing, which ranked as the fourth-most effective emissions-reduction policy in Canada. However, the still-standing industrial pollution pricing is Canada's single most important policy to drive down emissions by making the largest industrial polluters pay. The federal government must respect its election promise to protect industrial pollution pricing. We can't afford to drop the most powerful tool we have to protect our future.
A strong Canadian climate policy will save lives and improve health, while keeping the cost of our healthcare system sustainable to help stabilize our economy. A current nationwide campaign calling for federal climate action and protection of industrial pollution pricing has already been endorsed by over 85 organizations and counting, including both the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Public Health Association. Recent polling shows 73 per cent of Canadians agree that walking away from pollution pricing betrays our kids and the majority are open to voting for a party defending pollution pricing. This mirrors results of a global study of 130,000 people, revealing 89 per cent want increased political action on climate worldwide.
Climate change must be treated like the public health emergency that it is. We must hold the federal government accountable to lead Canada at this pivotal moment with sustainable, forward-thinking policies incorporating urgent climate action. Slashing polluting emissions will yield massive health and economic co-benefits, while keeping us competitive on the global stage. We are the final generation with the opportunity to choose a liveable future for ourselves and for our children.
Dr. Mili Roy is a practicing physician and surgeon in the Greater Toronto area. She serves as Ontario Regional co-Chair of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).