As world leaders gather in Paris to discuss climate change, we highlight some of our top reports, policy briefs and issue summaries on how Canada is doing in our transition to a low-carbon economy – and what more we can do.

Recently, Sustainable Prosperity in partnership with Dr. Amelia Clarke from the University of Waterloo published the Sustainable Alignment Manual (SAM). SAM is an inventory of market-based instruments that will help municipalities achieve the environmental goals they’ve set in their Sustainability Community Plans.

In just a few days I’ll be heading off to Paris for the 21st Conference of Parties [COP21], where an estimated 50,000 people – including 25,000 official delegates from governments, UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and civil society –will meet to discuss climate change and negotiate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The big environmental story coming out of Ontario this year is the government’s decision to introduce a cap-and-trade system in the province. This province-wide environmental market will cap greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, indirectly putting a price on carbon emissions and sending a signal for business to use cleaner energy and processes.

With COP21 in Paris quickly approaching, Sustainable Prosperity welcomed Professor Anders Levermann from the Physics Institute of Potsdam University to speak on “The Role of Science in Shaping the Future of Climate Policy”. A climate expert, Levermann chairs Sustainable Solutions at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, was lead author of the Sea Level Change chapter of IPCC, and edits Earth System Dynamics.