The Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology

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Linking Ecological Debt to Global Financial Exploitation

For Jubilee 2025 ORCIE explores the concept of ecological debt and its deep connections to global financial exploitation in a special deep-dive position paper, Linking Ecological Debt to Global Financial Exploitation. This paper explores the deep-rooted connections between environmental destruction, colonial legacies, and the ongoing economic disparities between the Global North and South. Inspired by Pope Francis’s urgent appeal for debt forgiveness and systemic reform, the paper advocates for a reform of the current global economic system to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). We invite you to engage with this vital conversation and join us in the pursuit of a just and compassionate future.

Find the executive summary here: Linking Ecological Debt to Global Financial Exploitation Summary

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Long-awaited emissions cap for Canada’s fossil fuel sector

On November 20, 2025 ORCIE sent a letter to Steven Guilbeault, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change at the release of the draft Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap Regulations. We recognized its importance as the first emissions regulation of Canada’s oil and gas sector. Faith groups and environmental organizations, like ORCIE, have long campaigned for these regulations and we welcome this plan to limit the emissions from the largest contributor to the current climate emergency.

ORCIE as an organization and as part of the CAN-Rac coalition have made submissions to the Consultation: Proposed Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap Regulations. Individuals are invited to do the same, participation is open until January 8th, 2024. Consultation: Proposed Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap Regulations – Canada.ca

ORCIE’s letter and submission includes these notes:

• Faith groups have long supported regulating pollution, and we appreciate the hard work needed to protect Canadians from worsening climate impacts.

• We are pleased to see the emissions cap regulations are shifting the responsibility for addressing pollution back onto industry. Let’s ensure the regulations have zero compliance flexibility, offsets, and loopholes.

• We cannot allow the oil and gas industry to continue to produce pollution and cancel out efforts made by other parts of the economy.

• We need to ramp up the ambition, with rules that take effect sooner than the proposed 2030 timeline and align these regulations with Canada’s climate commitment of a 40-45 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.

• ORCIE calls for a 60% reduction of GHG emissions below 2005 levels by 2030, because of the urgent need for fossil fuel companies to cut production and emissions.

• We want Canada to remain a leader amongst nations, putting binding limits on oil and gas pollution, and demonstrating how the Paris Agreement’s five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action or, ratcheting up, actually works.

• Canada can show its increased ambition nationally by finalizing these regulations and implementing them immediately, ahead of the federal budget and the 2025 election.

Climate Aligned Finance

The climate emergency calls for new energy to debate ambitious ideas and innovative solutions – including ideas for our federally regulated financial institutions, who need to get in line with science and Canada’s international commitments. Instead of debating the best in international financial practices the Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy is letting Bill S-243 on Climate Aligned Finance languish.

ORCIE long ago joined over 120 organizations endorsing Bill S-243 as a crucial starting point on how we will invest in a fair and just future for the next generation. We know climate change is risky business for individual companies or for banks, but what about the systemic risk that federal financial institutions impose on the real economy when they are financing fossil fuel expansion?

It’s time to recognize Bill S-243 as a key climate solution and move this bill forward. While many are preparing for COP29 in Azerbaijan, at home in Canada let’s ensure our financial system does not continue to fund activities that are fueling the climate emergency. Watch for upcoming advocacy activities on this file.

The Sustainable Jobs Act

The Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act has been a move in the right direction, but there is still more ground to cover to bring about an equitable energy transition that is inclusive and leaves no one behind. Bill C-50 (44-1) received Royal Assent in June 2024, becoming a law in Canada. The purpose of this act is to “facilitate and promote economic growth, the creation of sustainable jobs and support for workers and communities in Canada in the shift to a net-zero economy…” See document here: https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-50/royal-assent

This act requires the federal government to develop additional programs and policies to bring about an equitable economy for all that upholds Indigenous rights and ecological integrity, to align with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Canada’s international climate commitments. This act became a reality thanks to the push from labour, environmental organizations, community leaders, and Flood Parliament organizers, despite the opposition from the Conservative Party, who stalled its implementation when it was first called “The Just Transition Act”.

But there is still more ground to cover: A weakness of the Sustainable Jobs Act is its allowance for “transition” technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS) as opportunities for sustainable jobs, despite uncertainties about their effectiveness in decarbonization and emission reductions. This provision enables the fossil fuel industry to continue operating as usual, impeding a fair transition to sustainability. For more information, read this interesting article from The Council of Canadians: https://canadians.org/analysis/sustainable-jobs-act-become-law-now-what/

Global Treaty to Control Plastics Pollution

Sue Wilson, Executive Director of the Office for Systemic Justice, Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada, was one of the 2,500 delegates from 174 countries gathered at the fourth session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, held in Ottawa in April 2024. This UN committee was set up to develop an international, legally-binding treaty targeting plastics pollution and to eliminate plastic waste by 2040. A fifth, and final session, is scheduled for November 2024 in South Korea.

Every year, over 430 million tons of plastic are produced, much of which ends up in our waterways, forests, and even our food. Developed countries, including Canada, often ship their plastic waste overseas, contributing to this global issue. Scientists have long raised alarm about the chemicals in plastics and the risk they pose to human health and the environment.

The major issue of debate during the Ottawa meeting was that “[while] civil society groups are calling for countries to adopt a legally-binding target to slash plastic production 78 percent by 2040…[the] fossil fuel lobbyists are working hard to ensure the final draft of the treaty won’t contain a cut in plastic production… they were focused on recycling but without committing to putting the infrastructure in place for large-scale recycling.” Sue reflects that such an approach “relies on the myth of recycling,” ignoring data that shows that “only 9% of plastic gets recycled… [and that] most plastic is just not recyclable”. Real solutions will involve significant cuts in plastic production.

There was visible tension in meetings over fair representation of international stakeholders. A key issue was that “some civil society delegates were pushing for more representation and participation by Indigenous Peoples, whose communities are among those most affected by plastic pollution.” Civil society groups also demanded a human rights-based approach to negotiations, including a just transition for impacted communities and plastic waste workers.

In Canada, while environmental groups advocate for production caps on plastic, the government is focusing on measures like phasing out harmful chemicals, restricting single-use plastics, increasing recycling, and creating a Plastic Registry — a monitoring and reporting measure for companies on plastic production, recycling and reuse. As nations continue to negotiate an agreement in the final session, civil society groups will work for it to be as just and ambitious as possible.