Every two weeks, Mike Moffatt, Senior Director at SPI, explores five things to watch in the green economy in a segment for Smart Prosperity: The Podcast. Click here to listen to this week's episode.

On top of all the additional news, research, and analysis covered in the podcast, here are five (other) things happening in the green economy this week:

1) 2020 was a record year for global renewable energy investment, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Renewable energy accounted for 82% of all new electricity capacity, with China alone adding 136 gigawatts - about the equivalent to Spain’s total power production.

2) A new report from TD Bank warns that the green energy transition could lead to significant displacement of oil and gas workers. In one scenario as many as 450,000 jobs, or three quarters of all Canada’s oil and gas-related jobs, could be lost by 2050.

3) New research from Simon Fraser University says Canada will lose $11.9 billion from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, due to a more than doubling of construction costs and worsening economics because of global climate policies.

4) President Joe Biden introduced a $2-trillion infrastructure plan that includes massive investments in clean energy, electric vehicles and building retrofits, as well as a new clean electricity standard intended to make the US electricity grid net-zero by 2035.

5) The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of Canada’s biggest pension investment bodies, said it will create a new investment group to boost its portfolio of renewable energy investments. The new Sustainable Energy group will control about $18-billion in assets, or about 3% of the CPPIB’s total portfolio.

Listen to the full segment, and plenty of other great content, in today's new episode of Smart Prosperity: The Podcast. Our podcast provides fresh takes on the current affairs, politics, research and business of the clean economy. New episodes posted every two weeks.