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Personal care products containing microbeads will be banned from Canada beginning Jan. 1. A statement from Environmental Defence Canada lauds the ban and sees it as a proactive move, as other nations around the world consider similar regulations.

The $1.35 billion Quest carbon capture and storage project in Canada being developed by Shell Canada is now half finished. There are 600 workers on the project, scheduled to become operational late next year. When completed, the facility will reduce direct carbon dioxide emissions by 1 million tons per year, "equivalent to taking 175,000 cars off the road," the article notes

Canada is one of the world's largest beef producers, with its 60,000 ranches and feedlots contributing CAD $33 billion (US$26.2 billion) to the country's economy. But that is not stopping the federal government in Ottawa from issuing new dietary guidelines in an effort to promote healthy eating. Gone are the recommendations to eat a certain amount from various "food groups." Also eliminated, period, is any suggestion to consume dairy products. "Regular intake of water," is what a summary of the eating guidelines advise Canadians.

As one of the country's largest Canadian beef purchasers, McDonald's Canada, through the Pilot tracked the journey of nearly 9,000 head of Canadian cattle, or the equivalent of 2.4 million patties. The cattle spent their entire lives, from 'birth to burger', raised on or handled by verified sustainable operations.

The government of Quebec, Canada, has set a goal to export 60.9% of its installed renewable energy capacity to the US -- up from its current level of 46.6% -- by 2030. "With the most developed wind energy supply chain in Canada and the northeastern United States, Quebec's wind industry is in a good position to meet our continent's energy challenges," Canadian Wind Energy Association Vice President Jean-Francois Nolet said.

Trudeau (Chris Jackson/Getty Images) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will implement nationwide carbon emissions pricing in 2018. According to Trudeau's plan, provinces will be charged CA$10 per metric ton of carbon emissions produced, which will increase to CA$50 per metric ton during 2023.

Saskatchewan, Canada, has set a goal to source 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. The province currently sources about 5% of its total electricity from wind, but experts say that total could double by 2020. The Canadian Solar Industries Association said Saskatchewan also has a huge potential for solar development. "Saskatchewan's potential for solar power generation is significantly superior to Germany's -- the country with over 50% of the world's operating solar technology," it said. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial leaders met Thursday and pledged to double clean energy investment and meet or exceed Canada's international emissions-reduction commitments. "We are moving toward a pan-Canadian framework for clean growth and climate change," the leaders said in a joint statement.

While national leaders spout optimistic platitudes celebrating the great achievement of the globally unifying Paris Agreement on climate, environmentalists note that there is little in the way of substantial action plans behind the many promises made last December. Meanwhile, the most intense El Niño in history is leaving in its wake a world gripped by 7 months of record high temperatures; drought, water shortages, and famine (especially in India and Africa); wildfires (Fort McMurray, Canada); record coral bleaching; and a fast shrinking Arctic ice cap that set stunning early melt records this winter and spring.

Once spurned for having too many calories, avocados have spiked in popularity throughout the U.S. and Canada due to their reputation as a "healthy fat" that also doubles as a superfood. But the growing demand, which has led produce brokers and retailers to look beyond California to Mexico. According to an Associated Press investigation, the high prices that avocados can fetch for consumers has led to the deforestation of Mexico's historic pine forests.

Southern Co.'s coal plants are among the biggest carbon emitters in the U.S., but the company is about to build a new carbon-capture plant that could play a vital role in slowing climate change. The Mississippi plant, along with another in Canada, will capture carbon emissions and pump them into depleted oil reservoirs

TripAdvisor is extending its GreenLeaders program, which highlights hotels and B&Bs engaging in environmentally friendly practices, into 19 new markets.

Staples Canada has set a goal to divert 100,000 kilograms of batteries from landfills in 2014 and says it, with partner Call2Recycle, has collected and diverted 30,295 kg of batteries in the first quarter this year. The company also says, in the first two months of 2014 alone, it reduced emissions by 3,572 metric tons of CO².

Fashion houses and animal-rights campaigners are squaring off again over the ethical status of fur, which some designers and trade groups are seeking to reposition as an environmentally sustainable material. "There will be fur long after the last oil wells are empty," said Alan Herscovici of the Fur Council of Canada

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta-A group of Canadian oil sands producers, including some of the world's biggest energy companies, is prepared to commit to specific environmental impact reduction targets later this month.

Today, in São Paulo, a group representing the global beef industry is taking a big step forward in the quest for sustainable beef. The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef is formally approving the "principles and criteria" that will drive sustainable beef standards around the world.

The U.S. Senate rejected by a one-vote margin a bill passed by the House to allow construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to Gulf of Mexico refineries. The measure needed 60 votes to go forward but received 59. White House advisers have suggested that President Barack Obama might eventually let the project proceed.

Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) released a new set of standards that will guide the organization's certification practices through 2019. SFI claims that its standards include policies and guidelines that will help protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife, endangered species and old-growth forests in the United States and Canada.

British Columbia's carbon tax has led the province to curb its emissions at a rate 3.5 times greater than that of the rest of Canada without hurting economic growth, writes Gina-Marie Cheeseman.

"Global investments in clean energy hit $367 billion last year, beating expectations, according to a new report from Clean Energy Canada. "