This week: The growing cost of climate change, a major EV milestone hit in the birthplace of the automobile, and how a Vancouver project is making clean mobility more equitable

by Keri McNamara, Trevor Melanson, Sicellia Tsui and Ciara Torrance of Clean Energy Canada

The climate bill is coming due

Extreme heat is no longer just a public health emergency. It’s becoming an economic one, too. Europe, where temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, is now the world’s fastest-warming continent—and the impacts are rippling through its economy. A single June heat wave cost the U.K. an estimated £1.5 billion as hotter working conditions dragged down productivity. 

Canada is getting its own reminder. Early estimates suggest Ontario has already experienced its worst wildfire season on record, with more than 7,250 square kilometres burned, over 1,800 people displaced, and the season far from over. And the most visible costs are only part of the tab: wildfire smoke is linked to an estimated 2,500 premature deaths in Canada each year, with the resulting public health impacts averaging $19 billion annually between 2014 and 2025.

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