With the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris just around the corner, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet announced, attention is now turning to how the federal government will implement its commitments to the environment and the climate change portfolio.
On Nov. 27, the Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI) in the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) will host an important and informative discussion with five leading experts about the new government’s potential approaches to fulfilling these commitments.
The event “On the Road to Paris: The Trudeau Government and the Environment, Energy and Climate Change” will place emphasis on Liberal platform promises related to the environment and action on climate change.
Mark Winfield
“The October 2015 election is a game-changing event for environmental policy in Canada,” said SEI Co-Chair and Professor Mark Winfield, who will moderate the event. “After a decade of federal disengagement, we now have a government that has made substantial commitments to move forward on the environment and climate change. The question now is how those commitments will be turned into action. This panel is designed to help to answer that question.”
Scheduled speakers include:
- Tzeporah Berman – environmental activist, author of This Crazy Time: Living Our Environmental Challenge, and FES adjunct professor;
- John Godfrey – special advisor to the government of Ontario on climate change, former minister of state for Infrastructure & Communities and federal Liberal environment critic;
- David McLaughlin – former chair of the Nation Round Table on the Environment & Economy and chief of staff to former prime minister Brian Mulroney and former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna;
- Gord Miller – past environmental commissioner of Ontario and federal Green Party candidate; and
- Rick Smith – executive director of the Broadbent Institute.
“As the world prepares for the Paris climate change meeting, all eyes are on Canada’s new government and whether it will respond effectively to the challenges facing us from rising temperatures and the resulting volatility threatening our water, food systems, and communities,” said FES Dean Noël Sturgeon. “This panel gives us a good opportunity to learn and discuss what is needed as we go forward.”
The challenges of climate change and the need to support sustainable energy, economies and communities inspired FES to establish the SEI, which builds and strengthens research, education and skills for students and professionals in energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy sources and community energy planning.
SEI seeks collaboration and partnerships to support analysis of technical, economic, social and political contexts and innovation in sustainable energy and its applications, and encourages sustainable, equitable communities in Canada and around the world.
The event takes place at the CPA Professional Development Institute, 25 York St. (near Union Station) at 9am.
All are welcome. Pre-registration is required, at fes.yorku.ca/events/SEIPanel.
For more information about SEI and the series, visit sei.info.yorku.ca.