Further to this, a historical ruling by the United Nations Child Rights Committee decided a country can be held accountable for the negative impacts of its carbon emissions on children both within and beyond its territory.
Canada is investing $27 billion in early learning and child care. All 13 provinces and territories signed onto the agreement with a promise of reducing parent fees and increasing access for children zero to five years of age.
Canada’s federal early learning and child-care investment is an opportunity to think green within the early learning and child-care sector and re-evaluate the status quo. It’s a chance to ensure sustainability and climate goals are incorporated both in short- and long-term policies, and in current programs and classrooms.
Canada is a laggard
As legislation is being developed, where new early learning and child-care programs are located, how they are designed, constructed and resourced, can either add to the problem of climate change or help mitigate it.
Right now, the nexus of early childhood education and sustainability requires a lot more funding, scholarship and action.
The May 2022 release of UNICEF’s Report Card 17 specifically addressed environmental stressors on the well-being of children. Overall, it ranks Canada 28 out of 39 rich countries. We stand alongside the worst of our peers in municipal waste and resource consumption, and 38 of 39 for physical and policy environments that surround the child.
Flooding is shown at Peguis First Nation, Man., May 4, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
Sustainability education and action
Early years curriculum must include sustainability education and action, and these must be reflected in what happens in the classroom. Climate experts agree that one critical way to address the climate crisis is to empower Indigenous communities, and to support meaningful dialogues with Indigenous knowledge holders to determine sustainable and co-operative steps forward.
The environmental challenge is greater than any one single stakeholder. For every Greta Thunberg, there are millions of children that are collateral damage from policy decisions, naïve contributors to the problem, or both.
Pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours are critical and foundational for effectively addressing climate change. Children develop these by age seven. Transformations in systems and policies, environmental awareness education and the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, practices and beliefs that young children hold about the environment in their early years are now matters of survival.
Governments must approach climate action in a concerted manner. This is an interconnected problem requiring intersectional approaches. The complexity of the challenge necessitates the mobilization of every sector.
In Canada’s early learning and care sector, parallel with well-established quality criteria within early childhood education programs, principles and standards of practice should incorporate aspects of the built environment that include green spaces, climate sustainability and Indigenous partnerships and collaboration.
Children are the least responsible, but bear the greatest impact of the climate crisis. (Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages), CC BY-SA
Protect children’s environmental health: pay attention to where programs are built as much as how they are built.
Improve buildings: new builds should be sustainable, net-zero and climate resilient; child care capital plans should include funds for Indigenous-led program facilities.
Reduce transportation emissions: when child care is embedded in schools, parents spend less time in cars travelling to pick up their children in various places.
Power the clean economy: embed climate goals in all public investments, including child care.
Help families engage: adding sustainability and climate responsibility to curriculum and engaging families not only helps the next generation, but supports behaviour change today.
These issues should have our anxious concern. Whether we are parents, scholars, educators, members of governments or the community large, if we are all not champions for climate change, we are hindering progress and part of the problem. Canada’s $27-billion child-care investment should not be another missed opportunity.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
