After a full day spent discussing Canada’s track record on innovation, our potential to accelerate clean innovation, the policy levers available to make it happen and the practical experience from industry and academia, the question facing our final panel was ultimately – do we want to do things differently and drive greener growth? With clean innovation, that is the choice facing Canadians – are we happy, as Gord Lambert summarizes it, to “play the old game incrementally better?” or are we seeking something bigger and bolder? Given the economic and environmental risks and rewards at stake, the answer certainly seems to be to go big and bold, provided we have the right research to support good decision-making.
On Wednesday, June 3, Sustainable Prosperity had the honour of hosting Kristin Halvorsen, former Norwegian minister of finance and current director of CICERO, a Norwegian climate policy think-tank. Halvorsen discussed the workings of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, as well as Norway’s 25 years of experience with a carbon tax.
Why has innovation in the digital electronics market far outstripped progress in the clean energy sectors?
While Session 1 raised the issue of faltering innovation in Canada, Session 2 speakers (Dr. Richard Newell, Duke University; Dr. Richard Hawkins, University of Calgary; Dr. Nick Johnstone, OECD Structural Policy Division; and Geoff McCarney, PhD candidate at Columbia University and Sustainable Prosperity’s Research Director) shed light on why this has occurred and how it can be corrected by examining the links between public policy and clean innovation.
“We are moving towards a global economy that increasingly will reward companies that are low-polluting, energy-efficient, eco-innovative and use natural capital more productively.” With this remark Stewart Elgie opened the conference, explaining that in order to compete internationally, Canadian companies will have to be better than their competitors at lowering their environmental footprint. And to do that requires accelerating the pace at which we develop and adopt clean innovations.
This Issue Summary is based on recent work conducted by Sustainable Prosperity that categorizes environmental taxes in Canada based on their goals and objectives.
With renewed interest in climate policy – driven by the Paris climate meetings in December and increased focus from provincial governments on climate action - Sustainable Prosperity has prepared two briefing notes summarizing the state of knowledge and practice on carbon pricing.
A diverse group of prominent leaders has written to Premiers in advance of their Climate Summit in Quebec City to applaud their initiative and offer their support in advancing the pragmatic policies needed to help Canada capture critical low carbon economy opportunities.
Responding to climate change will require some significant changes in where investments flow in our economy.
