Make them pay for the hottest year ever recorded on Earth.

2023 was the hottest year ever recorded on Earth. [1] Wildfires, floods, and heatwaves destroyed lives and livelihoods from coast to coast. 

Despite driving this climate chaos, the fossil fuel industry continues to reap record profits and expand oil production. [2] Later is too late–communities are burning, and it is time to make fossil fuel polluters pay for the climate disasters they’re fuelling. 

By exploiting coal, oil and gas, fossil fuel companies are inflaming extreme weather, making climate disasters more frequent and more severe. [3] [4]

Year after year, people are forced to evacuate with some losing their homes, due to the increase and severity of destructive wildfires. Toxic wildfire smoke pollutes regions and communities living thousands of kilometers away, creating public health dangers with disproportionate impacts on populations with preexisting health conditions, outdoor workers, people experiencing homelessness, and marginalized communities. [5] [6]

Climate-related impacts are already costing Canadian households an average of $720 per year–and this could soar up to $2,000 per year by 2050. [7] Since fossil fuel companies are shamelessly reaping billions in profits year after year [8], they should be footing the bill for these damages. 

Join us in calling on the Canadian federal government to hold Big Oil accountable by making them pay into a new Climate Recovery Fund that would go directly to communities and local governments facing the brunt of the climate crisis and in need of financial support to repair, rebuild, and adapt to future climate change impacts. 

We can’t afford any more ‘wake-up calls’, the climate crisis is here and now. Tell Finance Minister Freeland and Environment and Climate Change Minister Guilbeault to create a Climate Recovery Fund for fossil fuel companies to pay into. 

Sources:

[1] https://www.noaa.gov/news/2023-was-worlds-warmest-year-on-record-by-far 

[2] https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/05/03/news/canada-oil-and-gas-emissions-continue-rise 

[3] https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/extreme-heat-in-north-america-europe-and-china-in-july-2023-made-much-more-likely-by-climate-change/ 

[4] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/22/climate-change-canada-wildfires-twice-as-likely