Unexpected Climate Connections: Advancing good policy for the economy and the environment

Join us, in Toronto or online, for a riveting day of discussion and debate about advancing good policy for the economy and the environment. In our complex world, we often hear that “everything connects to everything else.” The purpose of this one-day conference is to examine some of the unexpected or underappreciated linkages between advancing climate policy and achieving other important policy objectives. Climate policy may not connect to everything else, but it certainly connects with many things, and those connections make policy design and implementation even more complicated than normal.

This conference is part of the Max Bell School Annual Ecofiscal Conference Series.  The conference is co-organized  with The Walrus and sponsored by Telus.   Attendance and access to the Livestream is free with registration.  Register Here.

2024 Conference Programme

9:15 AM – 10:30 AM ET

Panel 1: Digital Connectivity as Climate Policy?

Improved digital connectivity has the potential to empower emissions reductions and support climate resilience. The “internet of things” and sensors, if well designed and carefully employed, will be critical components of lowering greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture and natural resources, electricity grids, and homes and buildings. In addition, as climate-related disasters become more frequent, digital connectivity has become the essential service driving emergency responses, community mobilization, protection, and recovery. Do our current climate policies produce the right economic and market-based incentives to generate these connectivity improvements, or do we need additional policies to get there? If so, which ones?
 
Anna Kanduth, Director, 440 Megatonnes at the Canadian Climate Institute
Sangeeta Lalli, Public Policy Director, TELUS Agriculture and Consumer Goods
Matthew Mendelsohn, CEO, Social Capital Partners
Scott Ross, Executive Director, Canadian Federation of Agriculture

11:00 AM – 12:15 PM ET

Panel 2: Economic Development in Indigenous Communities as Climate Policy?

An important part of reconciliation involves achieving economic balance for Indigenous people in Canada. Genuine equity partnerships between First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples and Canadian companies offer a path forward for enduring economic development. Economic reconciliation may also be the key to clearing the many hurdles for the large-scale renewable-energy projects that will be required to achieve Canada’s ambitious GHG-reduction targets. What policies can ensure that access to financial capital is adequate for the creation of these partnerships and can help us achieve our climate goals while advancing Indigenous economic outcomes?

Kayli Avveduti, Executive Director, Confederacy of Treaty Six
Matthew Foss, VP, Research and Public Policy, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
Jesse McCormick, Senior VP, Research, Innovation & Legal Affairs, First Nations Major Projects Coalition
Marissa Nobauer, Director, Reconciliation, Community Engagement and External Relations, TELUS

1:30 PM – 2:45 PM ET

Panel 3: Housing Affordability as Climate Policy?

With the explosion of demand and various obstacles to supply, the affordability of rental and purchase housing in Canada has been evaporating over the last decade. The need for more housing is also a need for more climate-friendly housing, meaning reduced GHG emissions and greater resilience to extreme weather events. Can we have a greater availability of more affordable housing that is also more climate friendly, or must we choose between these two objectives? We owe it to today’s young Canadians to make serious progress on both fronts, but how can this be achieved?

Steve Mennill, Planning and Housing Finance Consultant
Mike Moffatt, Founding Director, PLACE Centre
Rachel Samson, Vice President of Research, Institute for Research on Public Policy
Phillip Santana, Director, Sustainability, Mattamy Homes Canada

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Policy Debate: What Is a “Green Industrial Policy,” and Does Canada Need One?

Climate policy has made great advances in Canada and elsewhere over the past decade. Carbon pricing has been an important part of the policy packages in many countries, but other non-pricing climate policies have also been adopted. These policies change incentives in the marketplace, toward fewer emissions and the adoption of cleaner technologies. But do we need even more intrusive policy actions? Do we need governments to dust off and recalibrate their 1970s-style “industrial policy” tools, or should we be relying on the incentives created by more universal policies? What would a “green industrial policy” look like today, and what are the cases for and against this kind of approach?

Moderator:
Martha Hall Findlay, Director School of Public Policy and James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair in Public Policy, University of Calgary

Debaters:
Kenneth Boessenkool, Founding Partner, MB Policy
Rick Smith, President, Canadian Climate Institute

Accessibility Information
We strive to be accessible and inclusive. If you require support to be able to fully participate in this event, please contact events [at] thewalrus.ca or (416) 971-5004, ext. 247.