Being on the ground at the recent United Nations Conference of the Parties, birthplace of the landmark global Paris Agreement a decade ago, was a reminder of Canada’s opportunity and obligation to secure the health and future of all Canadians. Ten years ago, nearly every nation in the world signed the Paris Agreement, which included a commitment to urgently cut greenhouse gases to prevent global warming exceeding 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.

A decade later, and we are seeing the consequences of insufficient action: 2024 and 2023 were the two hottest years in recorded human history, with 2025 also projected to be record breaking. Deadly heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and storms make headlines with numbing regularity, causing massive damage to human health, health systems, and economic systems. The climate crisis, driven by burning fossil fuels, is now humanity’s greatest threat— simultaneously our greatest health and economic crisis. Yet although it has been slow to respond, the world is indeed now phasing out fossil fuels.

Last year, 92.5 per cent of all new electricity worldwide was renewable. Gas prices have plummeted, temporarily hitting the negative range earlier this year, and are expected to remain low for years. Yet Canada is headed in the opposite direction of this trend. The latest Parliamentary Budget Office report confirms Canada is not meeting its Paris targets. Of all G7 nations, Canada demonstrates the worst emissions reductions, even worse than the United States.

At the recent COP30 negotiations, Canada refused to join the 87 other countries calling for fossil fuel phaseout. Not only that, but recent announcements show our government doubling down on a regressive path. So where will Canada hope to market the fossil fuels being prioritized in “major nation-building projects,” and in the recent memorandum of understanding with Alberta? While Canada plans to expand liquefied natural gas (LNG), the current U.S. government resorted to threatening tariffs on reluctant Asian countries to force their purchase of American LNG.

Furthermore, any economic gains from fossil fuel projects are expected to be eclipsed by their negative consequences. As we continue to export and burn fossil fuels, climate-related damages across Canada will total $25-billion this year—or about half of our entire GDP growth— while air pollution health costs total more than $146-billion yearly. Climate change and air pollution from fossil fuels are linked to diseases ranging from asthma, heart attacks, dementia, birth defects and cancers, to rising rates of infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance.

Our lives are on the line while health-destroying MOU’s and nation-building projects are being hammered out with disregard. As climate breakdown accelerates, it’s clear we must massively change course. Paris-aligned policy can position Canada’s economy as one of the future rather than a failing, uncompetitive relic of the past in a decarbonizing world. Policy can push back against disinformation, and sectors such as fossil fuels, nuclear, carbon capture, and corporate agriculture seeking to hold back national progress and public well-being for their own profit. It can support already-existing solutions ranging from inexpensive, abundant clean energy to sustainable agriculture, transportation, and buildings.

Despite 89 per cent of people worldwide supporting climate action, this is a largely silent majority underestimated by policymakers, which delays critical climate action. It’s time to recognize the silent majority, acknowledge the existential threat of climate breakdown, and take urgent action. The Paris Agreement remains our clearest path to a livable future. Canadian policy must be the driving force to implement it.

The 1.5 C target is not just a number, as every additional 0.1 degrees of warming represents 100 million additional human lives lost. Policy that ignores evidence-based climate science deprives us of our fading chances for a safe, healthy, and sustainable world. Meeting Paris targets isn’t optional; it’s survival. We are the last generation with the opportunity to deliver this for future generations.

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Dr. Mili Roy is co-chair of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), Ontario Regional Committee. She is a practicing Canadian physician, assistant professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Toronto, and section editor at the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. Her advocacy work with CAPE involves education, lobbying, and policy work centred on environmental protection to protect public health. She recently attended COP in Belem, Brazil, with the CAPE team.

(This opinion piece was published in The Hill Times’ Environment Policy Brief, on December 10, 2025)