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Annual Report 2009-2010 – Letter From the Chair and President and CEO

July 2010

Dear Minister:

We are pleased to submit to you the 2009-2010 Annual Report of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE).

The year was an exceptionally busy one for the Round Table, beginning with the April, 2009, release of Achieving 2050: A Carbon Pricing Policy for Canada. This was followed by four separate policy publications, including last July’s annual review and assessment of the government’s Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act Action Plan. The NRTEE also conducted research during the fiscal year that culminated in the publication of two other reports in the spring of 2010.

The Round Table marked the fall by releasing True North: Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change in Northern Canada. The report offered practical advice on how Northern Canada can adapt its infrastructure to the potential effects of a changing climate. Later, the Round Table wound up its Achieving 2050 carbon pricing policy report with an electronic report highlighting key outcomes from a series of outreach sessions with stakeholders that took place in the late spring and summer of 2009.

In early 2010, the NRTEE produced, in conjunction with the Public Policy Forum, a report examining the need for new collaborative governance approaches to achieve the goals of sustainable development. Entitled Progress Through Process: Achieving Sustainable Development Together, this joint report was the culmination of meetings and consultations with 20 experts in the field of sustainability and governance.

Throughout the year, the Round Table also continued with its work on two major policy research programs: Climate Prosperity: The Economic Risks and Opportunities of Climate Change for Canada and Water Sustainability and Canada’s Natural Resource Sectors.

The Climate Prosperity series was unveiled to the public in April, 2010, with a brochure outlining the scope of the program. The first report in the series, Measuring Up: Benchmarking Canada’s Competitiveness in a Low-Carbon World, was released in May, 2010. In June, the NRTEE released the first of two reports as part of its water program, entitled Changing Currents: Water Sustainability and the Future of Canada’s Natural Resource Sectors.

Aside from our published work, NRTEE members participated in a number of conferences and hosted several joint meetings with stakeholders. The Round Table also took a leading role in discussions on a clean-energy strategy for Canada, which included nine other public policy organizations.

Last year marked the beginning of the Round Table’s third decade of providing the Government of Canada and Parliament with policy advice on achieving sustainable development. We look forward to continuing to do so.

Yours sincerely,