WELCOME TO THE ADEC INNOVATIONS BLOG

One of the first actions the new Conservative government of Ontario took was to start dismantling the cap-and-trade program—an electoral promise made by Premier Ford when he interchangeably called the program a "carbon tax." A C&T program is in fact an economic policy with a controlled carbon market—and not a carbon tax. Since Mr. Ford never produced a campaign platform, there has not been a thorough examination of this action in terms of climate change preparedness for the province, nor the total cost to dismantle it. There was, however, a hastily produced slide deck presented to the C&T stakeholders regarding their termination costs. The way the Ford government makes CAD$3.88 billion disappear into a $5 million pay-out deserves further examination.

Last month, we looked at different ways the Philippines has worked to build sustainable practices and climate change resiliency. As an island nation, the Philippines is particularly susceptible to the effects of global climate change, and their example highlights the importance of understanding the long-term environmental and economic benefits of sustainability.

Today, we will look at three other examples of how global entities are working toward broader sustainability objectives and building climate resiliency—from New York to the Maldives.

Particularly for those living or working in urban areas, rush-hour gridlock is one of the most obvious forms of environmental degradation in our everyday lives. What if more people were able to work from home, and fewer workers were commuting every day as a result? In more ways than one, this type of shift could greatly reduce the overall environmental impact of cities and potentially improve the lives of workers across the globe.

Global climate change is heavily disrupting many ecosystems across the world. While some countries fail to acknowledge the importance and urgency of the matter, others are working to prioritize climate change adaptation and resiliency in their policy and planning goals. As it is particularly threatened by global climate change due to its status as one of the world’s largest archipelago nations, the Philippines has made great strides to build global climate change resiliency.

When last we spoke, we covered three simple steps you can take to reduce the amount of waste produced in the home: starting a home garden, using an eco-bag, and shopping at farmers’ markets and co-ops. Though small, these actions can help reduce methane emissions, plastic waste, and pollution. Because trash that makes its way into the environment can do so much harm—and a startling 79% of all plastics are not recycled and end up in landfills or in the natural environment—one of the simplest ways to do your part is to avoid creating waste in the first place.

The world has a waste problem. And of the 1.3 billion tons of waste produced globally each year, the United States is responsible for 254 million tons of it—nearly 20%, despite making up only about 5% of the global population. The World Bank estimates this to be about 5.6 pounds per person per day, or just over 2000 pounds per person per year.

Chances are, you have seen signs around your city declaring a relationship with a ‘Sister City’ on the other side of the globe. It sounds important, but what is a Sister City, and how do these relationships work in practice?

Kinder Morgan, a publicly-traded company known for its controversial Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline through British Columbia, recently made another news headline: Shareholders voted against the Board of Directors’ recommendation to reject a shareholder’s resolution to adopt GRIS reporting guidelines for its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. How did this shareholder revolt happen?