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Benchmarking – Message from the Chair

Message from the Chair

As Chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, I am pleased to present Measuring Up: Benchmarking Canada’s Competitiveness in a Low-Carbon World, the first report of a new policy series called Climate Prosperity. As Canadians move to define their position in a carbon-constrained world, we must focus on our innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth. We must create low-carbon solutions that others will want to buy. We must continually benchmark and compare our efforts to our G8 colleagues. We must understand well the carbon context of our trade operations with the G8 and beyond. This is where sustainability and prosperity meet and interact. Our export products will have to meet global carbon standards, but in doing so nurture our own prosperity. Measuring Up examines how Canada ranks within the G8 nations for low-carbon performance. Knowing where we stand today will help us prepare for future climate prosperity. The federal government’s consultation paper on its sustainable development strategy made this important observation: "Canadian policy makers have long sought a way to benchmark and track our country’s progress towards making its economy more sustainable." The Round Table agrees and offers this report as a contribution to this goal. Canada will be challenged. But the NRTEE believes Canada and Canadians are up to that challenge—that with the usual Canadian ingenuity, hard work, and original policy ideas, Canada can become a world leader in the new economy to come.