Join us for three exciting, back-to-back Lightning Talks on the themes of climate change & innovation.

Weathering Climate Change – Understanding our Psychology to Regenerate the Earth

We’re hearing more and more about the personal and intimate challenges climate change is creating for individuals and communities. From ecological grief to reproductive anxiety to the exacerbation of mental health problems, climate change has ignited the global mental health agenda. Join Dr. Britt Wray, broadcaster and science writer, as she explores what design and foresight can do to fight the negative psychological impacts of the climate crisis.

Communicating Climate – Why Facts are Not Enough

The challenge posed by human-induced climate change to society and the natural environment has been carefully and methodically summarized by thousands of peer-reviewed studies and decades’ worth of exhaustive reports by Royal Societies, National Academies, federal agencies, and the IPCC. But communicating climate change, and more importantly, communicating the need for both social and political action to combat climate change, remains challenging and divisive. Join climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe as she untangles the complex science connecting our choices to future impacts and answers: How do we communicate climate change effectively given the political rhetoric the public hear, particularly during election cycles? How can community support for climate action be translated into support for initiatives that work to meet tangible targets (carbon pricing, etc.)? What role do shared values play in this dialogue?

Designing for Our Future

The future is arriving. View our earth through the lens of the MIT Senseable City Lab who will guide us through an omni-disciplinary approach to urban innovation and future thinking. Umberto Fugiglando will share Lab’s latest work towards shaping tomorrow’s cities as well as his own remarkable insight on design innovation and future technologies.

Photographer, researcher and National Geographic Explorer Pete Muller aims to reframe and communicate critical social issues using new lenses of consideration. His session will highlight his project that focused on the concept of solastalgia, a sense of emotional or psychic distress prompted by negative changes in one’s home environment.

An increasing number of Canadian and international actors are reaffirming their commitment to meeting the Paris Agreement, focusing on an inclusive approach to climate action and the economy. Join us in a working dialogue as we bring together global leaders in labour force transitions to share their experiences and address the challenging questions around how we continue to build inclusivity into climate action.

• What does the just transition mean? Where did it originate?
• What are the common features of just transition programs around the world? What are best practices and prevailing mistakes?
• Do new approaches need to be integrated into these programs?
• How are the roles of industry, government and civil society changing with the evolving landscape?

Sponsored by:

“Cleantech” is a broad term, spanning agriculture, mobility, energy, heavy industry, and carbon capture. Low-emissions technologies in these areas must scale to achieve climate change curtailment and adaptation, and are critical to continued economic, ecological, and human health across the globe. Speakers featured in this showcase will share their outlooks for the coming decade. Learn from their fearless predictions for our collective future and best bet pathways towards a stable climate.

• What are the current and long-term outlooks for substantial decarbonization?
• What market mechanisms must be in place today to create an environment to scale and improve clean energy technologies?
• How can we use innovative investment strategies to support young companies driving decarbonization?

In the next fifteen years, an estimated $90 trillion USD will be needed in infrastructure investment for climate safe growth. Due to the lock-in effects of our infrastructure choices, the New Climate Economy has referred to the next two to three years a global “use it or lose it” window on climate action. This dialogue will address how to direct the massive infrastructure investment opportunity as well as the existing and emerging avenues to scale Canadian investments. Leaders will share best practices and chart the promising path leading to COP 26 in the United Kingdom, with a focus on the transformation imperative:

• Given expected spending on infrastructure, what does it look like to “use” this window of opportunity? What are the key frameworks and tools to price climate risks and facilitate resilient investments?
• What role can Canada play in accelerating global leadership on climate-smart investments and how might Canada lead in developing a national framework on resilient infrastructure?
• How should government and the private sector work together to mobilize capital for climate resilience and how can initiatives be pursued in 2020

With representation from the public, private, domestic, and international perspectives, this discussion will identify key ways to seize the resilient infrastructure opportunity in a changing climate.

Sponsored by:

In the hard-hitting impact-oriented conclusion of GLOBE Forum, business leaders, government, not-for-profits, academics, cleantech innovators and youth will all come together on Feb. 13 for GLOBE Advance. In a completely new event format for GLOBE, experts from the GLOBE community will put pen to paper and develop strategic action plans to further the clean economy.

With $2.5 trillion global market opportunities on the table and 10 years and counting to meet Paris Agreement targets, now is the time for Canada to move from star tup to scale up and impact in clean technology. This session will explore:

• The current state of Canadian cleantech and lessons learned
• Challenges in scaling technologies and companies, as well as exporting
• Solutions to accelerate the path to commercialization and impact

Expected outcome:  A prioritized list of next steps for Canada, including individual commitments and actions. Each participating organization is asked to come prepared to commit to some action that moves the needle on addressing barriers to scale-up.

Who should attend: 

• Cleantech CEOs
• Government departments  and funding agencies
• Cleantech industry representatives
• Accelerators, incubators and other ecosystem actors
• Financial institutions
• Innovation and research and development experts
• Buyers and developers
• Institutional investors

To register for GLOBE Advance, indicate your preferred session on the Order page of the GLOBE Forum registration process. The cost of GLOBE Advance is included in your GLOBE Forum pass.

Sponsored by:

In the hard-hitting impact-oriented conclusion of GLOBE Forum, business leaders, government, not-for-profits, academics, cleantech innovators and youth will all come together on Feb. 13 for GLOBE Advance. In a completely new event format for GLOBE, experts from the GLOBE community will put pen to paper and develop strategic action plans to further the clean economy.

At its core, the act of energy transformation is about responding to the tension between current and desired future states of our energy systems. With much of our current system reliant on hydrocarbon energy, it is prudent to explore how we can best leverage the embedded value of that infrastructure, talent and investment to accelerate and amplify other transformation activities. Having a clearly articulated definition of hydrocarbons’ role in the energy system that the future requires of us will support decisions on optimal pathways for transformation.

Participants will explore the hydrocarbon value web through the principles of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, energy transition, backcasting, and future fitness. We will  explore the energy transformation within the context of Canada’s global position as an energy producer, as well as build a clearer understanding of pathways to align the hydrocarbon industry with circular economic and sustainability principles.

Expected outcome: Draft a definition and characteristics of a future-fit hydrocarbon and a list of specific initiatives that could be implemented or further supported to attain this.

Who should attend:

• Sustainability practitioners from the energy production sector or other sectors that will likely rely on hydrocarbon energy during the energy transition.
• Entrepreneurs and leaders looking to capitalize on the non-combustive opportunities that hydrocarbons provide, e.g., as a feedstock for technical materials.

To register for GLOBE Advance, indicate your preferred session on the Order page of the GLOBE Forum registration process. The cost of GLOBE Advance is included in your GLOBE Forum pass.

Sponsored by:

In the hard-hitting impact-oriented conclusion of GLOBE Forum, business leaders, government, not-for-profits, academics, cleantech innovators and youth will all come together on Feb. 13 for GLOBE Advance. In a completely new event format for GLOBE, experts from the GLOBE community will put pen to paper and develop strategic action plans to further the clean economy.

Achieving GHG reductions in the transportation sector requires multi-stakeholder action and collaboration. The deployment of new technology, efficient logistics, and modal shift—these are all outcomes that are enabled through coordinated action across the private and public sectors. Building on the transportation–related discussions at GLOBE, and including brief presentations by leading collaborators, this session will explore how stakeholders can come together to achieve big results. Through small and large group discussions, participants will share their vision and goals for GHG reductions in the transportation sector and discuss ways to enable and strengthen one another’s contributions. The focus will be on identifying and committing to new opportunities for collaboration, then articulating how these partnerships need to be supported by key public and private sector decision makers.

Expected outcome: A public report that identifies key areas of action, the stakeholders who will need to work together towards these actions and vital messages for public and private sector decision makers to enable partnerships.

Who should attend: Transportation providers, users, fuel suppliers, automakers including electric and hydrogen vehicle manufacturers, ZEV infrastructure organizations and policy makers and corporate leaders.

To register for GLOBE Advance, indicate your preferred session on the Order page of the GLOBE Forum registration process. The cost of GLOBE Advance is included in your GLOBE Forum pass.

Sponsored by:

It’s 2020 – can we finally confront the challenges inherent in capitalism? Speaking to the essence of sustainability in our modern age, don’t miss GLOBE’s pivotal debate on what growth means today.

Economics 101 tells us that growth is essential for a system to thrive, as do the billions of people living in poverty. Yet, there is little doubt that the overconsumption this system produces only perpetuates global environmental crises. Will propositions for ‘green growth’ and ‘degrowth’ as alternatives offer a better path? Where does ‘climate capitalism’ fit? Join us for an existential reality check:

• Is there such a thing as sustainable growth? What does it look like and how do we measure it?
• What opportunities for ‘good’ growth are being borne of the climate crisis?
• What approaches are delivering a win-win outcome – the circular economy, a Green New Deal…?
• What is the role of the GLOBE community in providing answers and a road map for ‘sustainable growth?’

Nature-based solutions play a vital role in decarbonization, establishing climate resilient societies, creating jobs and addressing biodiversity crises. For industry, these holistic and cost-effective solutions represent an emerging opportunity to complement and amplify traditional CSR initiatives. Join leaders from business and civil society to unearth:

• How can your corporate sustainability shift to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity using nature as a solution?
• Restore. Fund. – How can innovative partnerships in the space enable your business to manage risk and future proof growth?
• How can barriers to implementation be  overcome to ensure that nature applied as a solution reaches its full potential for reducing risk for your business or industry?