Climate Change
Earth Day 2023: Invest in Our Planet!
April 21, 2023
Alberta recently set a goal of creating a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The plan relies on yet-to-be proven advances in technology and regulations that do not exist. It also does not set interim targets. For these reasons, the plan has received criticism of greenwashing or, at best, green wishing. Afterall, there is an election on the horizon. However, the media...
Ozone Lessons for Addressing Climate Change
September 13, 2022
Reflecting on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer offers a hopeful lesson for climate change. Three distinct evolutions have shaped life on Earth. The first evolution was the emergence of single celled life at least 3.8 billion years ago. The second evolution, a billion or so years later, began with the evolution of a unique life...
Balancing climate action priorities
May 17, 2021
Fossil fuel consumption accounts for approximately 70 to 75% of a community’s greenhouse gas emissions. So, if you want to make an impact on climate change, building a more efficient and clean energy system must by a priority. Energy related emissions arise from the heating and cooling of our homes and buildings, the powering of industries and the movement...
Nature-based disruption
March 22, 2018
World Water Day is celebrated today, and this year’s theme is Nature for Water and explores nature-based solutions to the urban water challenges we face in the 21st century. Nature-based solutions take advantage of the natural functions and services provided by trees, plants, wetlands and microbes. The application of nature-based solutions is called green infrastructure which can provide similar...
Canada’s GHG reduction targets fall short
September 20, 2016
Top Asks for Climate Action: Ramping up Low Carbon Communities was released in June. The report recommended the federal government put a national price on carbon. A national price would serve as a baseline for all provinces and territories. This action would establish a level playing field across the country while respecting regional differences in the chosen approach to carbon...
Sustainability pushes systems to change
September 7, 2016
Sustainability pushes systems to change. And that is not easy. Seth Godin put it so well in his blog post “Bureaucracy, success and the status quo”: “When you show up offering change, understand that the status quo isn’t the enemy of the bureaucracy, it is their entire reason for being.” Every day, we interact with multiple complex systems. Most of...
Top Asks For Climate Action released today
June 9, 2016
Canada must act quickly if we are to meet our international climate change commitments, and local governments are central to achieving our goals. Local governments influence over 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The reality is clear: Canada can’t be a leader without local government action. I was thrilled to be asked to work with the Columbia Institute on this...
More than pricing carbon
March 9, 2016
Some of the proponents of the BC carbon tax are only telling part of the story. I am not weighing in on the right mechanism to price carbon. Whether it is a tax, cap and trade, or fee and dividend, we need to price carbon in Canada. There are pros and cons with each approach along with regional differences in...
This would help local climate change action
February 3, 2016
Communities across Canada have identified an energy and emissions inventory as the most important tool to encourage emission reductions. However, there are few policies that encourage the development and monitoring of inventories in Canada. The development of greenhouse gas inventories is time consuming. Getting access to reliable data often proves challenging for local governments. Small communities often don’t have the resources to...
Where's the climate change action?
January 30, 2016
At the current rate, Canada is not going to meet its climate goals – goals that fall far short of what the science says we need to protect us from the devastating impacts of climate change. The National Energy Board projects fossil fuel consumption in Canada will rise by 22 percent over the next 25 years resulting in higher greenhouse...
The Paris Agreement: what's next?
January 2, 2016
One hundred and ninety countries have reached consensus on The Paris Agreement. The goal is to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Canada was proudly among them. So what’s next? Now the reality of living up to our international commitments will test all of us. Time is of the essence. What will you do to take some carbon out of your life? Local organizations like...
Sober thoughts contemplating climate change
December 4, 2015
The opinion columns I have been reading recently about climate change have been sobering but for new reasons. I used to find them sobering because they too often included a nod to the skeptics. They always seemed to be hedging their bets. It felt like they had to wait to see where the winds of public opinion would turn before making a...
Climate talks set expectations high
December 3, 2015
It would be easy to be skeptical of the climate talks underway in Paris given past experience. It might also be too easy as a Canadian to set our expectations too high and think everything will be sorted out for us. I admit this is a nice feeling for a change but sadly not realistic. As Canadians, we use fossil fuels...
Climate literacy
November 4, 2015
In the last few weeks, I have heard the topic of climate literacy raised several times – the pressing need to persistently connect the dots between our day-to-day experiences and choices – in our homes, workplaces and communities – and global events. Only a few days ago Hurricane Patricia hit the coast of Mexico. It was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded...
Lower the noise on climate change
November 1, 2015
Sometimes simple things can make a difference. There is a strong relationship between where and how we live and our impact on the climate. This brings the focus on our communities – big and small. I have appreciated being engaged recently in discussions considering what policies would best support local action on climate change. One that I like is very simple: include language in the Ontario Municipal Act...
Time to get it on climate change
October 31, 2015
I spent a good part of last week surrounded by Canadian energy leaders from all sectors who get it. Sanity-restored. Minister Glen Murray opened up the QUEST conference with an unequivocal message of urgency – of the consequences for us if we don’t act now and definitively on climate change. Usually such honest messages receive criticism for fear it will make people feel hopeless....
Closing the gap for climate change
October 5, 2015
At the turn of the last century, people died of cholera in Guelph. The loss of homes to fire was common. To protect public health and fight fires, the politicians of the day got into the water business to the hue and cry of local ratepayers. I have a friend who remembers her father taking their garbage in a wheel...
Does Sweden have skeptics?
July 15, 2015
I wonder if Swedish newspapers still have columnists speculating on whether climate change is real or not. This week, a Globe and Mail columnist referred to climate change as “as unfortunate by-product of progress, one that may or may not cause serious problems down the road”. If they do, it doesn’t seem to distract them – or Scandinavia in general. Krisianstad...
Three recommendations for Ontario's Climate Strategy
July 8, 2015
I was also asked, as part of my participation in the Ontario Climate Change Lab, to provide three recommendations for inclusion in Ontario’s Climate Strategy related to cities and municipalities. Here were my recommendations: Raise the bar on energy plans. Mandate and support cities to double their primary energy productivity in 20 years using community energy planning as the framework...
Ten Reasons Why Cities Must be Part of Ontario’s Climate Strategy
July 7, 2015
I was asked to present as a part of a panel at the Ontario Climate Change Lab yesterday. I started with 10 reasons why cities and municipalities must be part of Ontario’s Climate Strategy. Climate change is serious. It will require both individual and collective action. No one gets a pass including cities and municipalities. There just isn’t the time....
Cities as Global Actors
June 29, 2015
In addition to meeting with counterparts from Italian cities last week, I had the additional good fortune to connect with colleagues from Germany and the U.S. to discuss how cities are responding to the energy transformation. The audio recording of the panel presentations and discussion have been made available.