On February 27th and 28th, the 2020 Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network (EEPRN) Symposium took place at the Museum of Nature in Ottawa. This research symposium brought together the top environment-economy scholars from across Canada and the world and policy experts from government and business, coming together for two days to explore different aspects of clean innovation, carbon pricing, climate finance, and clean growth. The objectives of this Symposium were three-fold:
- present recent research by members of the SPI Research Network
- identify leading policy-oriented research topics/gaps to drive future research efforts by the Network
- connect members of the Research Network, including academics, graduate students, and private and public sector partners, with domestic experts and practitioners.
Participation in the symposium has grown from year to year, with just over 100 participants in 2018 and more than 150 in 2020. The agenda for the Symposium can be found here.
The first day of the Symposium was an eventful one, with a major snowstorm delaying many participants and complicating logistics. The Symposium opened with initial remarks and welcome from Ailsa Barry of the Museum of Nature, Derek Hermanutz, Director General, Economic Analysis Directorate at Environment and Climate Change Canada and Stewart Elgie, Executive Chair, Smart Prosperity Institute. The morning continued with two parallel panels, the first focusing on designing agile regulations for clean innovation and the second examining the political economy of low carbon economy. A much anticipated lunch panel on what works and what doesn’t work in designing climate policy was moved to the end of the day to accommodate snow delays. Participants again broke into two groups after lunch, with one group discussing the design of regulatory institutions and experiments for innovation, and the second focusing on policy and innovation approaches to achieving a circular economy. Day one ended with a networking reception held among the Museum of Nature’s exhibits.
Day two opened with a breakfast discussion by Stewart Elgie and Jeremy de Beer (University of Ottawa) on the constitutional challenge of carbon pricing in Canada, a case being heard by the Supreme Court of Canada. The remainder of the morning was spent looking at how to advance low carbon mobility solutions, and investment, cost and competitiveness outcomes of climate policy. Lunch was followed by a Keynote by John Murton, the United Kingdom’s COP26 Envoy at the Cabinet Office who spoke about how the UK will achieve its COP26 ambition. The remainder of the afternoon was spent in plenary, discussing sustainable finance and looking at transitions and pathways to 2050 targets.
Copies of the presentations delivered in the various sessions throughout the Symposium are available here:
- Blake Shaffer
- Bob Laroque
- Caroline Lee
- Colleen Kaiser
- David Paterson
- David Popp
- David Wolfe
- Geoffrey Lonca
- Gregor Semieniuk
- James Meadowcroft
- Jeremy de Beer
- Jessica Gordon
- Joane St. Godard
- Joanna Dafore
- Jonathan Rubin
- Laura Kilcrease
- Lew Fulton
- Margaret Taylor
- Mark Jaccard
- Mark Winfield
- Mike Moffatt
- Nick Macaluso
- Nouri Najjar
- Olaf Weber
- Paul Ekins
- Raimund Bleischwitz
- Randy Lucas
- Ryan Riordan
- Stefan Pauer
- Stephanie Cairns
- Steve Morrisey
- Steven Bernstein
- Stewart Elgie – Constitutionality of Carbon Pricing
- Stewart Elgie – Smart Regulation
- Vicki Weekes
To learn more about the Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network click here.
Questions? Please contact us at research.network@smartprosperity.ca
