News Release – October 29, 2008
Climate Change Security Featured at the NRTEE’s 20th Anniversary Forum
Ottawa, October 29, 2008 – To mark its 20th anniversary year, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) will host a unique Round Table Forum entitled Securing Canada’s Future in a Climate-Changing World. The Forum will be held at Old City Hall, 111 Sussex Drive in Ottawa tomorrow, October 30, 2008, from 8:00-17:00. The Forum is being chaired by Pierre Marc Johnson.
“Climate change requires all of us to consider new solutions and approaches to ensure that our economic and environmental future is secure and Canada’s contribution to global sustainability is meaningful,” said Pierre Marc Johnson, NRTEE Forum Chair. “It is an honour for me to chair this special 20th Anniversary Forum and I am excited by the contribution it will make to long-term sustainability policies for Canada.”
Climate change has emerged as this century’s most far-reaching global sustainable development challenge and, as such, Canada’s economic and environmental future will be determined in large part by how we, and the rest of the world, respond to the current and emerging threats and opportunities posed by a changing climate.
The Securing Canada’s Future in a Climate-Changing World Forum has attracted a wide-ranging group of eminent Canadians such as: Dr. Roger Gibbins, President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation; Preston Manning, President and CEO of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy; Mel Cappe, President and CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP); Steve Williams, COO of Suncor; Dr. David Keith of the University of Calgary; Peter Robinson, CEO of the Suzuki Foundation; David Runnalls, President and CEO of the International Institute for Sustainable Development; Thomas Homer-Dixon, Professor at the University of Waterloo and Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs; and Ian Church, Chairman of the Canadian International Polar Year.
“The NRTEE has built a long reputation of bringing leaders from diverse backgrounds together to discuss pressing environmental and economic issues facing Canadians” said NRTEE Chair Bob Page. “This 20th Anniversary Forum continues that tradition of informed dialogue to seek out balanced solutions.”
The 20th Anniversary Forum Securing Canada’s Future in a Climate-Changing World will consist of three Round Table sessions designed to debate domestic and global environmental and economic security through the lenses of our ecosystems, our energy economy, and our Arctic environment.
Round Table I: Securing Canada’s Ecosystems will be moderated by Gisèle Quenneville, Host-Producer at TFO. Panellists such as: David Chernushenko, Michael Harcourt, Merrell-Ann Phare, Preston Manning, Ken Ogilvie, Toby Heaps, Mel Cappe, Ian Shugart, Avrim Lazar, Linda Coady, Roger Gibbins, Hélène Lauzon, Rick Smith and Bill Borland will be asked to discuss the most important public policy issues related to securing Canada’s ecosystems in the face of climate change, what barriers and challenges exist that prevent policy makers from addressing these issues and what solutions can be used to overcome these barriers.
Bernard Lord, President and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, will moderate Round Table II: Securing Canada’s Energy Economy. At this Round Table, Mr. Lord will be joined by Angus Bruneau, Marlo Reynolds, Sheila Leggett, Peter Robinson, Jeff Passmore, Mike Cleland, Steve Williams, Andrew Lee, John Manzoni, Cassie Doyle, David Keith, Andrew Coyne, Duncan Hawthorne, Vicky Sharpe and Elyse Allan. The need for a national sustainable energy strategy, the environmental impacts of our current energy system – from climate change to air pollution, and what levels of transformation are needed to our energy systems such as conservation, efficiency measures and the concurrent shift toward renewable energy sources will be discussed.
Round Table III: Securing Canada’s Arctic Environment is being moderated by Jodi White, President of the Public Policy Forum. Robert Page, Robert Huebert, David Runnalls, Anthony Cary, Michael Wernick, Thomas Homer-Dixon, Paul Heinbecker, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Mercedes Stephenson, Fen Osler Hampson, Ian Church, Terry Breese and Violet Ford will be asked to discuss the need for stronger international environmental cooperation in the Arctic and Canada’s approach to Arctic sovereignty; the need for policy makers to grasp the implications of positive feedbacks in the Earth’s climate; nonlinear climate change and effects on foreign policy; and strategies for public policy that would help to protect natural ecosystems in the Arctic.
“Our catalytic purpose and distinctive round table approach give the NRTEE a unique role in advancing innovative, long-term sustainability policies and solutions for Canada,” said David McLaughlin, NRTEE President and CEO. “We look forward to the Round Table dialogues and expert commentary from the best and brightest in their fields. Together, they will help us to consider how to secure Canada’s future in a climate-changing world.”
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CONTACT:
Helene Ouellet or Ann Viau
Ouellet & Viau Communications
(613) 232-1515 (O)
(613) 850-5062 (Helene’s cellular)
(613) 851-1656 (Ann’s cellular)
Tony Bégin, NRTEE
(613) 944-4781
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