The Town of Gibsons is valuing nature in its decision-making: why this matters

Mar 03, 2015

Ecosystem valuation is still an academic undertaking or one that is limited to raising awareness around the value of protecting or restoring nature.

Bringing Canada Back in Line -- Part 2

Dec 12, 2014

New analysis shows that without new and ambitious policy action Canada will miss its Copenhagen targets by a considerable margin. So while Canada will have to play climate policy catch-up to the rest of the world, it appears that a number of forward-looking provinces have already signed up to lead Canada in this mission.

An Analysis of QC & Cali’s First Joint Auction

Dec 10, 2014

The numbers are in for Quebec and California’s first joint auction of GHG allowances (for convenience’ sake, I will use “allowance” and “permit” interchangeably in this post). The auction held on November 25th marked the last step in the linking of their cap-and-trade systems. Since January 2014, compliance instruments are fully fungible, meaning allowances or offsets from either jurisdiction can be used by firms in California or Quebec to cover their emissions.

A Breakout Year for Green Bonds

Dec 08, 2014

Addressing climate change is going to require a lot of investment. The International Energy Agency estimates that the transition to a global low carbon economy will require upwards of US$53-trillion in cumulative investment in energy supply and energy efficiency by 2035. The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy estimated in 2012 that an “annual investment on the order of $13 to $17 billion” was required in Canada to achieve our climate change objectives.

How do we Build Cities for People?

Dec 02, 2014

How can cities be remade so that they can be enjoyed, and not just endured?

Natural Capital Accounting – Making the Invisible Visible

Nov 13, 2014

Pricing Water Pollution: Top 10 Lessons from Ontario’s Water Quality Trading experience

Oct 22, 2014

In my previous blog post I explained how water quality trading (WQT) works(external link) and how this market-based instrument enhances the cost effectiveness of pollution control policies. When applied successfully, WQT translates into net environmental benefits to watersheds and lower costs to pollutant dischargers than the ones incurred when just using technological upgrades to meet a regulatory standard. In this second blog post I identify the top 10 lessons learned from Ontario’s small – but significant – experience with WQT.

Collaboration Can Be Uncomfortable But It's What We Need

Oct 16, 2014

Learning from past successes to create the broad-based support for deep transformational change can occur through one simple concept: collaboration. Identifying villains and heroes, winners and losers has no place in the collaborative process necessary for such change.

Welcome to the Anthropocene: biodiversity (or a lack thereof) under our influence

Oct 15, 2014

Pricing Water Pollution: Water Quality Trading in Ontario

Oct 08, 2014

Ontario has lots of water. It’s a fact that the province holds about a third of the world’s fresh water. Unfortunately, it’s also a fact that elevated nutrient levels – particularly phosphorus – in Ontario’s streams, rivers and lakes pose a huge risk to this vital resource. Excessive phosphorus loads from industrial and agricultural sources can lead to algal blooms, which can threaten aquatic habitat and make water unsafe for swimming and drinking.

Moving on Better Urban Mobility

Oct 01, 2014

Cultivating the Next Generation of Sustainability Leaders: My experience as the first Metcalf Foundation intern at Sustainable Prosperity

Sep 24, 2014

Growing up in Venezuela, I always was very aware of environmental issues - telling my parents not to use the car so much in a country where gasoline is cheaper than water(external link) and working at a community centre in the design and implementation of water conservation campaigns. However, it wasn’t until I enrolled in my graduate microeconomics and environmental economics and policy courses at the University of Ottawa that I became interested in how economic instruments can be used to advance environmental goals.

Major New Project on Climate and the Economy Launches | What does it say? What does it mean for Canada?

Sep 16, 2014

the New Climate Economy (NCE, a major international initiative aimed at studying and communicating the benefits and costs of acting on climate change, which is part of the Global Framework on the Economy and Climate, launched its flagship report, Better Growth, Better Climate, on September 16th. It has already been garnering major media attention both abroadand here in Canada, and will feature prominently at the upcoming United Nations Climate Summit, scheduled to kick off in New York on September 23rd.

In Deep Water

Aug 28, 2014

Water has been in the news a lot this summer — from the historic drought in California (check out the before and after photos in the top screen), to the algae blooms in Lake Erie (again, the photos are stunning). California doesn’t have enough water. Ohio has water – but it’s green.

Just the Facts: Is there a cure for “carbon price phobia”?

Jul 11, 2014

Just the Facts: Is B.C’s carbon tax shift a silver bullet solution?

Jul 10, 2014

Just the facts, please: The true story of how B.C’s carbon tax is working

Jul 09, 2014

“Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story,” Mark Twain famously wrote. In an op-ed published today in the Globe and Mail, a leading economist and a successful mining entrepreneur do just that.

Just the Facts: What’s behind B.C’s whopping fuel use drop?

Jul 09, 2014

Just the Facts: Did the carbon tax shift burden or buoy B.C’s economy?

Jul 09, 2014

Receding Waters: Alberta floods 1 year later

Jun 14, 2014