In 2020, Smart Prosperity Institute released a call for proposals seeking research on climate and environmental policy in the context of COVID-19 and economic recovery. With a post-pandemic economic recovery remaining top of mind for many Canadians, the Greening Growth Partnership and Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network (EEPRN) are launching this new call for proposals. It targets academic research on achieving a green and inclusive recovery and a low-carbon economy, amidst the changing climate policy context in Canada today, given a new federal climate plan. (Please note that for those working on research related to natural capital and the circular economy, we will be running a separate call for proposals on these topics later in 2021.)
Topics of particular interest for the current funding opportunity include:
- How does Canada’s new federal climate plan and target for a $170/t carbon tax by 2030 affect the suite of other policies or programs required for a low-carbon transition and/or a clean, resilient recovery? For example:
- What additional policies are needed to support a resilient, low-carbon recovery in emissions-intensive, hard-to-abate sectors?
- What are the implications for households, and how do we ensure a clean, resilient recovery is also inclusive?
- What is the current state of knowledge, and what new research is needed, to inform the development of sector-based clean innovation strategies in Canada? For example:
- What current frameworks exist to inform the selection, prioritization and financing of clean innovation strategies across sectors (how should public investment be prioritized and/or evaluated, on a sector-by-sector basis)?
- How can tax, regulatory and/or trade measures help to drive the transition to low-carbon pathways, or the adoption of clean technology solutions in hard-to-abate sectors?
- Ensuring the policies/programs supporting a resilient recovery and transition to a clean, low-carbon economy are also equitable and inclusive. For example:
- What are the likely distributional impacts of existing or proposed low-carbon and/or resilient recovery policies, programs, or sector-specific pathways?
- What are the labour and skills implications of a clean, resilient recovery?
Proposals should be focused on Canada and can be submitted by faculty, graduate students, or post-doctoral fellows. This call is seeking to fund both full research proposals (typically not exceeding $40,000; to be completed by March 31st 2023) as well as shorter research development activities (not exceeding $10,000; to be completed by March 31st 2022). Final deliverables should include a research paper submitted to the SPI Clean Economy Working Paper series and a policy-maker oriented blog post, highlighting main research findings and policy implications.
Deadline for applications is 11:59 pm EDT on 15 March 2021
- For more information, see the full Request for Proposals here and download the application template here.
- You can read about the Steering Committee conducting the proposal review here.
- To learn more about the Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network click here.
- Questions? Please contact us at research.network@smartprosperity.ca
