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Despite pleasure in seeing my country praised, I am not quick to agree with Will Goble that Canada may be considered an enlightened democracy today (Letters, High cost of wrecking the Soviet Union, 11 December). Contrary to the “sunny ways” promised during his election campaign, Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government upheld the Indian Act, which, despite tinkering, relegates women of the First Nations to second-class status, have failed to produce electoral reform, sell armaments to Middle Eastern despots, and continue to export fossil fuels from the tar sands, thereby contributing to greater degrees of climate change. The rose-tinted glasses have fallen from the eyes of many Canadians as, sadly, we see that there has not been significant change in policy or legislative direction since the defeat of Harper and the Conservatives in 2015.Linnea RowlattOttawa, Canada

The rush to consolidate by owners of large shopping centres suggests they are seeking protection from the rise of online rivals

The crisis of confidence among owners of large shopping centres is contagious. Last week it was Hammerson, the Birmingham Bullring folk, bidding for Intu, owner of Gateshead’s Metrocentre.

Now, on grander scale, French giant Unibail-Rodamco is paying $25bn (£18.5bn) to own Westfield, the Australian outfit that has erected its multistorey car parks, with malls attached, in east and west London.

Related: Europe's biggest mall owner buys Westfield for $25bn

Related: Big Meat and Big Dairy's climate emissions put Exxon Mobil to shame | Juliette Majot and Devlin Kuyek

EU funds will be focused on clean energy, and sustainable cities and agriculture, with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also pledging $300m towards climate adaptation

The European commission has announced funding of €9bn (£8bn) for action on climate change, one of a flurry of measures from governments, businesses and investors aimed at achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement.

The EU funds will form part of the bloc’s External Investment Plan, and will be focused on sustainable cities, clean energy and sustainable agriculture. The announcement was made at the One Planet Summit in Paris on Tuesday, held to mark the second anniversary of the landmark 2015 pact.

Campaigners call for an end to fossil fuel finance and subsidies to avoid dangerous global warming at a meeting to mark two years since the signing of the landmark agreement

The Paris agreement on climate change, ratified by world governments a year ago, has failed to ensure major investors are moving away from fossil fuels with the urgency required to safeguard the planet, civil society groups have said.

Large companies, investors and national and local governments met in Paris on Tuesday to celebrate the second anniversary of the signing of the landmark 2015 agreement, which bound nearly all developed and developing countries for the first time to keep global temperatures below 2C, the threshold scientists regard as the limit of safety.