Welcome to our weekly newsletter where we highlight environmental trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world.
Hey, it’s Rachel. Sometimes I feel I’ve covered climate change from every angle. So I’m fascinated when I run across something brand new, like the idea of a climate doula. It’s inspiring to hear from someone who’s turned their work into a “climate job” to help others stay safe.
This week:
- One doula’s push to help moms-to-be face climate risks head-on
- The Big Picture: Nuclear fusion heats up
- Chinese EVs are coming. But when? And how much will they cost?
One doula’s push to help moms-to-be face climate risks head-on
Esther Rose Louis remembers the stress of leaving her home in Florida in 2017 as Hurricane Irma approached. She was evacuating from Miami to Georgia with her husband and four children, along with a nearly nine-months-pregnant client, her husband and two children.
“Due to some challenges with housing, knowing that her roof would not stand up to this huge Category 5 storm that we were expecting, she decided to leave,” Louis told What On Earth host Laura Lynch.
As the hurricane was bearing down, a drive that should have taken 10 hours took almost 24. The two families caravanned in separate cars, sticking close together and switching drivers when needed — all while managing the needs of six kids as well as fears that Louis’s client could go into labour en route.
“It was tough because she also had a lot of previous history with potential scares when it came to pre-term births,” said Louis. “[She was] having some contractions all along the way.”
Louis works as a doula — a trained non-medical professional who provides emotional, physical and informational support to expectant families before, during and after childbirth. She said the experience during Hurricane Irma opened her eyes to the ways her profession could be of greater help.
Louis says she was just doing her job and being a compassionate human being. It was only after the baby was born — healthy and at term — that she realized doulas have an important role helping pregnant people navigate climate risks. She now leads a pilot program called the Doula Climate Health Outreach Team, or Doula C-Hot, that’s aimed at training doulas in southern Florida to assess climate risks for pregnant mothers and help them stay safe.
Florida faces a variety of climate impacts, including more intense hurricanes, flooding and increasing heat. The program, run through Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, teaches doulas to talk with clients about the dangers extreme heat can pose for pregnant mothers and fetuses. That includes the links between heat waves and pre-term births and stillbirths — risks found to be higher for Black and Hispanic mothers in the United States.
Doulas also learn how to work with clients to help them stay hydrated and keep cool, which is not always easy.
“We do have a lot of families that are here living very low-income and oftentimes in homes that are older,” said Louis. “If it’s found that the mom is eligible, we’re able to provide portable AC to that family just to make sure that they’re able to adequately cool themselves.”
The program also teaches doulas to help clients plan for disasters, including evacuations. They make sure clients know where cooling centres are, and discuss plans for how they’ll get to medical appointments during a flood or storm.
So far, the program has trained 12 doulas, who have since become more climate-aware themselves, said Louis.
“They also realized they needed to have their emergency plans ready to go as well,” she said.
Doulas in other parts of the U.S. are making similar efforts to help clients cope with the impacts of climate change. Louis said she’s been inspired by the work of a co-operative called the Birthmark Doula Collective in New Orleans, whose members have, among other things, helped new parents feed their babies in the aftermath of hurricanes.
Worldwide, climate change is posing an increasing risk to pregnant mothers and newborns, with many facing multiple crises simultaneously. According to the charity Save the Children, eight million babies were born in places facing a humanitarian crisis in 2025, and six million of them also faced impacts of the climate crisis.
As climate impacts accelerate, Louis said she hopes more attention will be paid to the needs of pregnant and postpartum families when it comes to emergency planning. Her team is looking for ways to expand and adapt their training so that doulas everywhere can play a role in that work, including in Canada.
As for the doulas in the Florida pilot program, Louis says the training is helping to reinforce the value of their work.
“I think they’re finding it really validating and supportive of their original goal to help impact families,” she said.
— Rachel Sanders
Old issues of What on Earth? are here. The CBC News climate page is here.
Check out our podcast and radio show. In our newest episode: Resignations. Calls for a hiatus. The expert group tasked with helping Canada cut emissions faces an existential crisis. We hear from Catherine Abreu, who quit the Net Zero Advisory Body, because it wasn’t consulted about the federal government’s pipeline deal with Alberta. Meanwhile, Michael Bernstein, one of the few remaining advisors, says the group can balance climate policy with political reality, but it needs a reset first.
What On Earth26:25Is anyone listening to Canada’s net-zero climate advisors?
What On Earth drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app or on demand at CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Check the CBC News Climate Dashboard for live updates on record-breaking weather and current conditions across the country. Set your location to find out how today’s temperatures compare to historical trends.
Reader feedback
Many of you had thoughts about Bridget Stringer-Holden’s story on LED light bulbs and the ban on compact fluorescent bulbs.
Stephen Price and Zach Branscombe pointed to evidence that the blue colour, brightness and flicker from many LED bulbs have negative impacts on human health and wildlife. Duncan McNaughton complained that switching to LED bulbs led to bad radio reception in his home. He plans to switch back to halogens to get static-free radio.
We brought up these concerns with Olivier Trescases, the University of Toronto engineering professor interviewed in Bridget’s article. He said many of these issues are due to “design choices prioritizing maximum efficiency” and lower costs.
“Unfortunately, cases like this are another example of how cheap electronics can give an entire technology a bad reputation, even though the issue is avoidable with proper design,” he wrote, adding that LEDs can be made flicker- and interference-free in a wide range of colours and brightnesses using higher-quality components.
Meanwhile, other kinds of lighting can also disturb humans and wildlife, Trescases said. Those “depend much more on how bright it is, what colour it is and when it’s used … using warmer lights, lower levels and better shielding goes a long way toward reducing potential impacts.”
Terri Deller worries about the working conditions for those making LED bulbs, given that they contain electronics and that human rights groups have flagged poor labour practices in electronics factories in Asia over the past decade. Trescases said concerns about manufacturing conditions are important, but apply to electronics manufacturing in general, from phones to computers, “and have been improving over time through better regulation and cleaner processes.”
Write us at [email protected] (and send photos there too!)
The Big Picture: Nuclear fusion heats up
For decades, humans have dreamed of running power plants on nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun. Why? Because fusion could potentially generate a huge amount of energy from a small amount of readily available fuel (the element hydrogen) without producing radioactive waste.
Until now, fusion power plants have remained decades away. But recent scientific developments — including one in China and one at Canadian-based General Fusion — have made investors optimistic. New fusion startups have been popping up around the world, and more than $10 billion US has been invested in private fusion in the past five years.
We took a closer look at where the technology is, why there is so much optimism, what barriers remain before we can have fusion power plants and what role Canada is playing in nuclear fusion development.
— Emily Chung
Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web
- Meat benefits from a tax break in many parts of the EU. Removing it would cost households less than a dollar a week but could curb greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and other ecological damage by as much as six per cent, a new study suggests.
Chinese EVs are coming. But when? And how much will they cost?
Buckle up! The electric vehicle market in this country is about to take a sharp turn.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is reopening Canada to Chinese-made EVs, lowering a 100 per cent tariff on imports, imposed in 2024, back to six per cent.
There’s demand for more affordable and climate-conscious EVs and, for the average customer, having Chinese EVs in the market means “more choice” and “greater tech,” said Max Morris, sales manager at Shift Electric Vehicles in Burlington, Ont.
While some are applauding the EV market opening up, others are raising concerns about the safety and security of vehicles from companies tied to the Chinese government. Here’s what you need to know.
How many are there?
China has shaken up the global EV landscape in recent years, offering more affordable cars, SUVs and other battery-powered and hybrid electric automobiles.
China has more than 100 EV brands, bolstered by heavy subsidies, but there are 15 dominant names, including Geely, Chery, MG, Wulin and U.S.-based Tesla, which also makes some models in China.
But BYD surpassed Tesla as the world’s top EV seller last year.
BYD intended to break into the Canadian market until then-prime minister Justin Trudeau implemented the steep tariff in 2024, in line with a similar measure under U.S. president Joe Biden.
Outside of China, BYD’s biggest market is Brazil, where it accounts for 80 per cent of all EV sales. Australia and Mexico are also significant buyers of Chinese EVs.
How many are coming to Canada?
Up to 49,000 EVs a year from China will be allowed into Canada initially, which Carney says is less than three per cent of the overall car market.
That will increase to approximately 70,000 over five years.
There were already Chinese EVs in Canada prior to the 100 per cent tariff — exported by Polestar and Volvo, both of which are Swedish companies owned by Geeley, and Tesla.
There appears to be sufficient demand for cheaper Chinese vehicles in Canada.
An Abacus Data poll, released last year on behalf of Clean Energy Canada, suggests most Canadians wanted a lower tariff that would improve consumer affordability (53 per cent) or no tariff at all (29 per cent) on Chinese EVs.
How soon could they arrive?
We don’t have an exact timeline and we don’t know which models might be available.
But vehicles could arrive at Canadian ports in a matter of weeks, says Addisu Lashitew, an associate professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business.
“Chinese EV makers can ramp up production and ship quickly, and BYD even operates its own cargo ships that could further shorten transit times,” he said in an email to CBC News.
The hurdle, he says, will be regulatory clearance and other compliance steps.
That’s something the federal government might want to “streamline” to avoid reciprocal delays on getting Canadian canola and other products back into the Chinese market with lower duties, he says.
Currently, China is set to ease its tariffs on March 1.
Lashitew says he wouldn’t be surprised if new Chinese EVs arrived as early as March or April.
Will they be cheaper than other EVs?
It depends on the brand and the model, but Chinese EVs can cost $10,000 to $15,000 less than those of similar size and range that are already popular in Canada.
One of BYD’s top sellers, a compact car with a short range known as both the Seagull and the Dolphin Mini, can go for less than $30,000.
That could be attractive to first-time and returning EV buyers, says Morris at Shift Electric Vehicles, which specializes in used models.
“People that are buying these Chinese EVs might already have an EV and are looking to change things up,” he said, “Perhaps they’re not happy with their current car or perhaps the maker of their current car.”
That would, in turn, put more used EVs into the market thatwould also be more affordable, he says.
Lashitew says it will become “incumbent” upon other automakers to lower their prices, making EVs more accessible to consumers and ultimately helping Canada move toward its emissions reduction targets.
“With EVs still about 30 to 50 per cent more expensive than comparable gasoline cars, lowering trade barriers would meaningfully ease the affordability constraint,” he said.
Who will sell them?
Right now, there aren’t any branded dealerships for EVs made by Chinese companies.
But with Canada rolling out the welcome mat, those companies could move fast.
BYD has opened dozens of dealerships around Australia since entering its market in mid-2022 — and had sold more than 52,000 vehicles there by the start of this year.
You can read more about Chinese EVs features, including their safety and security, here.
— Nick Logan
Thanks for reading. If you have questions, criticisms or story tips, please send them to [email protected].
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Editors: Emily Chung and Hannah Hoag | Logo design: Sködt McNalty
