Evening Update: Historic climate deal at COP28 aims to move world away from fossil fuels

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

After two weeks of hard-fought negotiations, a deal was struck at the COP28 climate summit today in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, signalling the eventual end of the oil age to investors and policy makers.

Representatives from nearly 200 countries agreed to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuels to avert the worst of climate change, a move scientists say is the last best hope to stave off climate catastrophe. COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber called the deal “historic” but added that its true success would be in its implementation.

• Will declaration on fossil fuels at COP28 climate talks lead to action? Consider five previous decisions
• Opinion: What we must take away from COP28 – the need to protect houses from extreme weather

Household debt service ratio hits record high as interest payments soar

Canadians are dedicating a record portion of their disposable income to debt payments, a sign of increasing financial pressure on households after an abrupt end to near-zero interest rates.

The household debt service ratio – measured as total obligated debt payments as a proportion of disposable income – rose to 15.22 per cent in the third quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday in a report. This amounts to the highest debt service ratio in records that date back to 1990. Put another way, the average household is spending around 15 cents of every after-tax dollar to service their debt. In comparison, the U.S. debt service ratio is just shy of 10 per cent.

• Rob Carrick: A new frontier in parenting costs is helping your homeowning children afford their mortgage
• U.S. Federal Reserve: The Fed held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signalled in new economic projections that the historic tightening of U.S. monetary policy engineered over the past two years is at an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024.

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After escaping war, thousands of Ukrainians want to stay in Canada permanently

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fled the war in their homeland for safety in Canada under a temporary visa program are pressing Ottawa to allow them to settle here permanently.

Since the introduction of Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel, more than 210,000 Ukrainian nationals have arrived in Canada, and most of them do not want to return home, one study shows. Another 726,000 Ukrainians have been approved to come to Canada.

The program allows an unlimited number of Ukrainians fleeing the war to work, study and stay in Canada for up to three years. Immigration Minister Marc Miller told The Globe and Mail that Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Yuliya Kovaliv, has made it clear to him that Kyiv wants Ukrainians to return home.

• Also read: Sexually assaulted by Russian soldiers, survivors in Ukraine break silence to seek justice

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Israel-Hamas: Palestinian militants carried out one of the deadliest single attacks on Israeli soldiers since the Gaza invasion began, killing at least nine in an urban ambush, the military said, a sign of the stiff resistance Hamas still poses despite more than two months of devastating bombardment.

Banks: Bank of Nova Scotia is shifting more money to its North American businesses where it believes it has bigger opportunities for growth than in its Latin American operations.

Accounting: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC has agreed to pay $1.45-million to settle charges brought by CPA Ontario that its employees cheated on internal training programs for nearly three and a half years.

Development: The Ontario government is backing down on its plan to dissolve the regional government of Peel, citing concerns about the potential high costs for taxpayers and impact of the divorce on critical services such as police and paramedics.

Space: Artemis II is slated to launch in November, 2024, the first crewed voyage to lunar space since the final Apollo mission more than half a century ago. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, of London, Ont., will be the first non-American to travel beyond the lower Earth orbit.

Auto: Tesla will recall 193,000 vehicles in Canada to address concerns about safeguards for its driver assistance system Autopilot after announcing a recall of 2.03 million vehicles for the issue in the United States.

Stress Test Podcast: Five personal finance resolutions for 2024 (that you can actually keep)

Callout: Which stories should we cover in Windsor? Share your thoughts for The Globe’s latest pop-up bureau

MARKET WATCH

The Dow Jones industrial average hit its first record closing high since January 2022 and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended sharply higher today after the Federal Reserve signaled that its interest rate-hiking policy of the last two years is at an end and that it sees lower borrowing costs in 2024.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 395.61 points at 20,629.45. The S&P 500 gained 63.39 points, or 1.37 per cent, to end at 4,707.09 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 200.56 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 14,733.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 512.30 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 37,090.24.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.74 cents US.

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TALKING POINTS

Finally, a government with the guts to take on the housing crisis: B.C.’s NDP

“But the purpose here is not to take issue with the report, or to pooh-pooh the government’s gaudy projections. No, I think at this point, one needs to applaud the NDP for having the courage to push forward with these changes in the face of intense objections from powerful forces at the municipal level that object to having these moves foisted upon them.” – Gary Mason

Canadians aren’t crazy to think that carbon pricing is hurting their pocketbooks

“The resentment has grown to the point where Mr. Poilievre can provide only his version of the carbon price story and win, because Canadians are so incensed with the Liberals doing the same.” – Kelly Cryderman

LIVING BETTER

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An appreciation of holiday favourite: gingerbread

There are few foods as closely tied to winter and the holiday season as gingerbread, and few with as long a history, as rich and varied as the treat itself. This wonderfully chewy, cakey gingerbread just happens to be vegan.

Its origins run so far back, they’re unclear. Some sources point to Greece in 2400 BC as the first known recipe for gingerbread, others to ancient Egypt, circa 1500 BC. Gingerbread houses were first constructed in 16th-century Germany.

Read more about this holiday treat, plus a recipe for gingerbread with cider caramel.

TODAY’S LONG READ

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How to be a responsible tourist

There’s no denying travel is severely problematic. So how do you plan a holiday while minimizing its impact?

It takes work and rethinking old patterns, but it’s doable. For example, a popular hotel isn’t always beneficial to the neighbourhood or city it’s located in; see if there are independently owned hotels in the area. Or if you’re considering visiting a destination that’s in recovery after natural disasters, tourism boards also often share guides to exploring a destination in new, respectful ways.

Here are more expert tips on how to be a respectful visitor as you experience all that the world has to offer.

Evening Update is written by Sierra Bein. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.