Investigating Energy Trilemma in Sub-Saharan Africa

Does it feel like the busyness of life makes it impossible to find any time for yourself? I'm Annie Bender, a producer at Ideas, a podcast where we explore all kinds of ideas that shape our world. We're not a self-help podcast, but we do believe in slowing down so you can reclaim your time to enjoy award-winning storytelling. Think of ideas as self-care for the curious mind. And and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. There's no mistaking the frustration in his voice. Looking at what we have in front of us, there is no way we can reach our 2030 targets. Stephen Gilbo, once at the cabinet table with the power to shape climate policy, has given up on the carny government. The abode says before the government's target to cut emissions by 40% of 2015 levels by the end of this decade was on track. Not anymore, not with what he calls backsliding by the Prime Minister. Unless there's a significant shift, there's no way we can reach our 2030 targets. And in fact, in the signed agreement with Alberta, it doesn't say we're committed to reaching carbon neutrality. It says something like we're committed to striving to it. So we've even the government now recognizes that we won't even be able to reach our 2050 carbon neutrality targets. He's not the only one with concerns about carny's evolving climate policy. Fourteen liberal MPs, including Gilbo, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister at the end of April. It expresses their concerns over what they see as the government's recent environmental rollbacks, but the Prime Minister is downplaying the descent. Well, in a healthy caucus, you will always have an exchange of views, suggestions, and we have exchange of views of some members of the caucus perspectives. In April, of course, there's 160 other members of that caucus. Carny insists the government is taking action on climate, touting his government's electricity strategy and his nature strategy as examples. We have to look at everything in the round. We do many things at the same time. We're moving forward on climate action. We're moving forward on making this country more affordable. But his other actions, major projects, the deal with Alberta, are also causing worries outside of the government. Take Malina Labakhan Massimo. She considered Gilbo an ally in the fight against climate change and she's sad to see him go. And she's not happy about the government's direction. It gives me cause for concern. I think that the current government had an opportunity and still has an opportunity to lead on accelerating the expansion of renewables, which we're seeing across the world, you know. But yet, I'm seeing a lot of kind of backtracking. But instead of giving up, she says some indigenous communities in Canada are moving full speed ahead with renewables. I'm Laura Lynch and this is What On Earth, where we bring you a world of climate solutions. Today we hear from What On Earth's indigenous climate solutions columnist, Malina Labakhan Massimo. Malina is the founder of Sacred Earth and the co-founder of indigenous climate action. She's a member of the Lubicon Creek First Nation from Northern Alberta within Treaty 8 territory. But a few days ago, she visited six nations of the Grand River in Ontario to do some training for a program called 2020 Catalysts. It's run by a group called Indigenous Clean Energy. So Malina, for those who've never been to that area, can you just paint us a picture of what it's like there at this time of year? Sure. Six nations of the Grand River is one of the largest or if not the largest indigenous communities in the country. So you're driving along beautiful, like you're driving by the Grand River, you're driving along like farmland and by reserves. It kind of intertwines in and out. This is funny thing. I was like the first time I went there. They actually have two Tim Hortons on the reserve. I know that might not be a big deal for people, but when you're like five hours away from the city on my reserve where there's like no coffee and you need a coffee, it is a big deal. Otherwise you have to start knocking on people's houses where I'm from. Please make me a coffee. So it's just a really big and amazing, incredible community and it's always such a pleasure to be there and just see all the incredible things they are doing. And one of our staffers, the managing director of Sacred Earth is actually from Six Nations of the Grand River. So I've had the privilege of going there over the past number of years because we've built projects there. But also the community that self has built. They're the largest portfolio of renewable energy projects in the country. And you were there to train people to be clean energy leaders in their communities. And I'm wondering what stood out to you when you think back to the few days that you just spent there? Well, we were hosted by one of the hereditary leaders in the Kayuga. It's the Saurasprings Longhouse in the Kayuga Nation. And it was just hearing the language and seeing they are seed people. They have their sacred seeds and they're building sovereignty through food sovereignty but also energy sovereignty in their community because it's such a big community. There's six nations. That's why it's called six nations. And so it's just being hosted by one of the traditional longhouses. It was just so incredible to just see other people's and hear other people's culture and language so alive and so thriving. Okay. Before we go on, I think I should be saying Malena, love again, Massima. Welcome back to Wet on Earth. Thank you for having me. Now, this training that you were doing, it was part of Indigenous Clean Energy's 2020 Catalyst Program. Tell me about the program and the aim of it. Sure. The 2020 Catalyst is a six-month intensive program. It's designed to support and propel participants but also known as the Catalyst to become clean energy leaders. So the aim of the program is to provide very practical skills, applied learning that equips Catalyst with tools they need to develop successful energy projects and build effective partnerships across the country. It's actually an award-winning program and so it brings First Nations in you, it may be a catalyst to come into a network of mentors and coaching specialists and clean energy specialists to bring them into the clean energy industry and then upon completion the catalysts have those skills and tools and resources they need to maximize the social and economic benefit that communities gain from being a part of the clean energy sector. And when you use the word Catalyst you're actually referencing, you mean people. The participants, yes, people. You actually were one of the very first to be trained yourself ten years ago. I'm wondering if you could sort of go back in time. What do you remember the most about your experience then? Well I had just put up my first solar project that powers our health center back home and so when I was asked to join the Catalyst, the first mentees of the program, I was like, I actually had a sense of relief and also like a lation because I was like, oh my god, I'm not the only one. Being from like a Northern remote community, you think you're the only one. And so I felt very isolated in my journey in the energy transition and so meeting other people like me who were building climate infrastructure projects, I was just like elated to be around people who cared about these projects and talked about them but we're actually doing them as well. And so all of a sudden I was a part of a cohort that was from all parts of the country and we were able to learn together how to build projects and infrastructure and communities across the country. And what impacted that have on your own work in clean energy? Well I was just at the beginning of my kind of journey. I had already been working on climate and energy issues for over a decade by then but in clean energy I was really helped me understand the process of what it takes to implement a project. You know it takes often years catalysts to build a project, right? It goes from community energy development, pre feasibility studies, feasibility studies, environmental regulations and permitting. You learn about like construction and operations, site maintenance, you know, and then introduction to energy systems. What type of energy systems exist that communities can utilize to implement in their specifics, the specificities of where they come from? Wow, that's a lot. It's a lot and there's more. Like there's more. That's why they call it a six month intensive. Yeah, it's an amazing program. So it sounds like it almost helped you. It gave you kind of staying power when you sort of became hooked up with all these other people who are doing the same thing. Yeah, like learning how to be more effective in the implementation and becoming like a better project manager so to speak, you know, really understanding what the like gaps are in when you're building projects. Because I was just like trial and error when I did my first one and luckily it was successful. Luckily it's connected to grid. Luckily it's still running. But like, you know, like I literally was trial and erroring it at the time before the program. It must be though that the graduates like yourself become sort of the support group for the ones that are coming along. You must have met so many other people who are doing things similar to you. Yes, yes. And it's just amazing because then you get the honor of, you know, when you're a mentee, you become eventually a mentor. And that's what I've been able to come in. That's why I got to go back, you know, this spring. Yeah, you're the trainer. What did you teach the group when you were in Six Nations? Well, you know, it's because they're on their initial journeys or some of them are already building projects, you know, but it's I was able to share my journey about why I did the work, why I was involved in the energy transition, the types of projects and organizations that I've built. to address the climate crisis and why. And then we had mentoring sessions, so one-on-ones, and with a group of them talking about, you know, what their projects they're gonna build, and you know, what were the barriers that they were seeing potentially in ahead of making their projects a success. And then also we talked about solar energy 101, and I co-facilitated with the managing director of Sacred Earth as, you know, 'cause we've been implementing solar, so we did a solar energy 101, but there is a wind energy 101, so you exchange under one, district energy 101, bioenergy 101, so learning about the basics of each type of technology that exists, that communities can utilize. - So it's been 10 years, what has changed over those years in terms of the training? - I mean, I feel like it's just gotten stronger, more effective, more profound in the content. More and more people have come to support the program, so the mentors aren't just people like me that are past mentees, but also it's people that work in the industry as well, that have done it for like, you know, 30, 40 years. And so it brings together just like such an incredible network of people, but I think at the heart of it, people actually just feel really held and supported, and know where to go when they need to ask questions, and they can ask questions that are very hard questions, but also that they can get addressed. And, you know, I think what we're sometimes seeing in communities when we don't have those networks, we can't really vet other, like companies, or like consultants that sometimes give communities a run for their money to be quite honest, and so we can often at that point become a network and start vetting people in who our communities work with. - So if my math is right, you've graduated about 200 people in the program at this point. What kinds of clean energy projects have they gone on to create? - And so many, like every time I come back to the 2020 catalyst and talk to people, they're just doing so many of the renewable energies of all the different types of energy. They're bouncing community energy planning, they're creating local employment, they're strengthening the energy sovereignty within our communities, and so there was one catalyst specifically that I had talked to and was with, and six nations that have met over the years, who drew Bernard, who's from Lennox Island and PEI, and drew, you know, he's, catalyst from about, I think three or four years ago, and when I talked to him about his experience, he said that it was such a life-changing experience because he again felt very isolated in his nation and PEI, and then he was already doing incredible work in his community, but then from the catalyst, it gave him more courage to continue his work and start a business with another catalyst, and it really changed his life in a very significant way. And so on top of the already incredible work he was doing before he became a cubs, he's now in the final stages of completing a solar farm, a wind farm, and a battery storage system for his nation. So it's just incredible to hear every story's like that. You're just like, wow. - Now you mentioned, just mention this, but I want you to talk about a little bit more. Obviously this is having an impact on clean energy, but how important is it for the communities to be able to control their own sources of power? - I mean, it's why I got into the work because I felt like the visioning wasn't given and afforded to our communities. It was an imposed foreign system in this previous fossil fuel era, and with the renewable energy and energy transitions, we can make those decisions, we can go after projects, we can support them from within the community as opposed to a top-down approach. So for me, it's all about energy sovereignty. And I also spoke to the 2020 Catalyst Program Manager, Justice Morningstar, who runs this program, and she told me that specifically to this question, that this program isn't just about clean energy technology, it's about the building, the confidence, strengthening indigenous leadership, supporting communities in exercising their energy sovereignty and shaping their futures for generations to come. So the projects are meaningful because they are community-driven, rooted in community, priorities, cultures, and values. - So more broadly speaking than what role are indigenous communities playing in the energy transition in Canada? - Broadly speaking, a lot. Indigenous communities and organizations are now Canada's second largest holder of clean energy electricity assets after utilities within projects in every region of this country. So these projects have generated over $8.7 billion in additional economic value for indigenous nations and their partners across the country. And this was actually just calculated and reported by indigenous clean energy's May 2026 National Survey, you can find online. - So this grand push within indigenous communities, how does that compare to what you're hearing from the Carnegie government when it comes to the green transition? - That was a big sigh, Melina. - It gives me cause for concern with what we're seeing. I think that the current government had an opportunity and still has an opportunity to lead on accelerating the expansion of renewables in 2050, which we're seeing across the world, you know? And but yet I'm seeing a lot of kind of backtracking and with the current direction. And right now I think we're seeing a bit of a tied to fraught version of a continued reliance on fossil fuels and the use of ineffective carbon capture technology that just actually prolongs the fossil fuel use in this country. And we're seeing, you know, even with the MOU, with Alberta, which gives us yet another tar sands pipeline that really nobody wants except for the oil industry that will cost more of our taxpayers' money out of our pockets in the middle of affordability crisis. It just makes me feel heavy-hearted. And, you know, I don't think whether there's another pipeline or not that's built. We are still gonna be facing a climate crisis and forest fires are coming every year and they're only gonna get worse and we really need to see real tangible climate action and not just renegotiating and weakening industrial carbon pricing that has, you know, will become ineffective because it allows for polluters to keep polluting. But, instead, we really need to see the continued uptake of renewables and take the place of fossil fuels like we are seeing around the world. And so I think it's really critical that, you know, we don't see more pipelines and LNG in this energy transition that we actually need to really implement renewable energy technology and we need to see more climate action with tangible results, but also investment into all Canadians across this country. - And in that context, you are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Catalyst Program this year. You've got some concerns about ongoing funding. - Yeah, that's the thing. And I think people are exuberant and they're really happy that the Catalyst, you know, this 2020 Catalyst Program is now in its 10th anniversary. That means hundreds of Catalysts across this country. But yet there is still serious concern for the federal funding to continue. And I talked with the director of learning and capacity building for Indigenous Clean Energy, Drew Denton, and he shared with me that the clean energy for rural and rural communities, CERC Program funding is actually setting next year in 2027. And so they're hopeful that there'll be a continued partnership with programs from the federal government because he's saying that this program demonstrates that Indigenous communities aren't just participating, but we're leading it. But, you know, these types of programs like 2020 Catalyst do their work best over the long term. So we need to see consistency in funding like this. So sustained commitment from the federal government would ensure that these pathways continue and send a clear signal that Indigenous led clean energy leadership is a priority and not just a pilot project. - Okay, well then, let's just for the sake of argument assume that the funding will continue. What are your hopes for the future of the program? - My hopes are that this program continues on for as long as Canada exists. That we need to see programs like this, the Catalyst 2020 is showing that it's making demonstrable impact and that it's actually addressing helping this country address the climate crisis. It's giving communities the ability to be climate resilient in the climate crisis. And so I hope that this program continues on until I'm an elder that we will continue to see year after year more leaders in the sector advancing progressive energy policy and bringing renewable energy investments into alignment with Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge systems, climate science and prioritizing public and Indigenous ownership because it's uphold that upholds the rights of Indigenous peoples and workers. And so this is what I hope to see continue and achieved across the country with programs like the 2020 Catalyst. - I'm just curious, who are the youngest people in the program? Because I just think about the young generation wanting to get involved. - When we started the first week, Justice Morningstar, the 2020 Catalyst Program Manager actually said this is the highest youth participation they've had in the program this year. - And what does that say to you? - It shows that young people want action on the climate crisis. They are gonna live the repercussions of our leaders today. - Melina Labakhan Masamal, thank you so much for your time. - Thank you for having me. - You heard Melina there saying she understands that the funding for the program will end in March of 2027. Natural Resources Canada will only say that no decision has been finalized. That's its term. But Melina's colleague Drew Denton says he's not getting the sense the program will be renewed. There are no discussions, he says, and no way to apply for future funding. - Does it feel like the busyness of life makes it impossible to find any time for yourself. And follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Now as I mentioned earlier, environmental groups are watching Ottawa's new moves with growing concern. One big one is part of the push for so-called major projects. The goal is to speed up approval by reducing what the government is calling red tape within the environmental assessment process. Ottawa says streamlining it is good for the economy and Canada's future. But some scientists say the government is trying to push these changes through quickly and quietly, with just a month for public consultation. It definitely feels short and rushed to me. You know, I talk to a lot of scientists, people that work in this realm, don't know about it, even though they should be consulted, including government scientists. I also talk to the general public and nobody knows about it, and I work with many indigenous communities and they don't know about it. Marie O.J. Mette holds the Canada Research Chair in Statistical Ecology. She's an associate professor at the University of British Columbia. One of the proposals that stood out to Marie could mean government can bypass laws that protect endangered species. Then a species is listed as endangered. The government is legally bound to protect the habitat that is critical for its survival and recovery. And under these laws, you're not allowed to have a project that would destroy this habitat or destroy it to the extent that it would increase their risk of extinction. And this is the exemption that they're trying to change. But, okay, even if we know that a species might go to extinction, we might decide that the project is so important that we will let that species go extinct. I think to me that's very shocking because the species at Risk Act is one of the very few laws that protect species that are doing really, really badly already. Marie points to the Southern resident killer whales off of BC's South Coast as an example. Those whales are officially an endangered species and that means they've got special protection for their habitat. But the proposed new rules could let the government decide if it's in the public interest to proceed with a project even if it affects the orcas. And that's not the only significant change being proposed. Ottawa wants to give certain ministers the power to change other environmental rules for major projects if they see fit. And it wants to create special zones that are pre-approved for economic development as well. Some major projects could start construction before environmental assessments are finished. Some of these ideas, Marie says, amount to dig now, assess later. And that's very concerning because we know different project like a pipeline versus a wind farm would have very different impacts on animals and the environment and humans. So it's concerning that for some types of projects, the impact assessment will no longer be done by an environment branch of the government, but by the branch that is linked to the development industry. So they kind of say that you could start construction before an impact assessment is done. And we all know that to start construction in for many of these big projects, the first thing you would do is likely plow down the land and remove all the tree. Once that done, what you're going to do, the habitat is destroyed. It's already too late. Now Ottawa says it's still hashing out the details, but new legislation would not allow the government to suspend or remove environmental assessments entirely. And the species at risk act, it says, will still apply. But it's considering an exception. It would allow it to ignore rules protecting at risk species in order to get some projects approved. Still, it says the use of this new power would be, and this is a quote, narrow subject to a high threshold and accompanied by conditions to avoid, reduce or mitigate impacts to the extent feasible. Marine or colleagues say these proposals pit the environment against the economy at a time when Canada should strengthen environmental protections, not weaken them. I also think that we're trading future jobs for jobs right now. We're trading future prosperity for Canada for prosperity in the moment. And it's much harder to come back from a destroyed habitat than to find a way to use it sustainably. I don't think removing a proper assessment of the impact that these projects will have on the health of Canadians and our environment now and in the future is red tape. I think it's actually needed. If anything, I think we need to make these laws stronger. If you want to read more about this, the potential changes are listed online in a government discussion paper called "Getting Major Projects Built in Canada" that proposals are open for public comment until June 7. That's all for us. Remember the show is available wherever you get your podcasts. We drop two episodes every week. And while you're there, leave us a review. The show was put together by Danielle Piper, Jennifer Wilson, Molly Siegel, Matthias Wolfson and Rachel Sanders. I'm Laura Lynch. Thank you for listening.