GLOBE 2020 Key Insights: A Taste of the Innovation Showcase Program

GLOBE 2020 Highlights and Insights: Innovation Showcase

On Feb. 11 and 12, 2020 at the Innovation Showcase, over 100 exhibitors in five different clusters and 12 pavilions brought us the latest and greatest in cleantech and the green economy. In addition, exhibitors and experts from the GLOBE community delivered insightful presentations on the Invest in Canada Stage.

Read on for the key takeaways from a few select Innovation Showcase sessions.

The European Green Deal – A Trillion Dollar Circular Economy Opportunity

  • First announced in December 2019, the EU Green Deal provides a road map to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
  • Supported by investments in green technologies, sustainable solutions and new businesses, the deal is structured to be a new EU growth strategy.
  • The speakers emphasized the importance of the right market conditions (pricing, incentives, etc.) and industry collaboration to a successful circular economy.

“No single country can transition to a circular economy by themselves, value chains are global. We need this to be a global effort. This is an area of great economic opportunity.”—Ernesto Hartikainen, Sitra Fund

Industry and Innovation: How to get to Zero Plastic Waste

  • Extended producer responsibility is a hugely important driver of reducing plastic waste. Consumers need to be offered options.
  • Industry needs to continue to push ambitious goals in shifting their product design while continuing to educate the consumer on recycling and re-use best practices.

“Brands are putting out big audacious goals and stepping up to meet them.”—Isabelle Des Chênes, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC)

Beyond Canada’s Borders: International Cleantech Opportunities

  • The European Green Deal, Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, and individual country commitments to climate neutrality present a wide range of opportunities for Canadian cleantech firms, with billions of dollars on the table. Innovation is needed across the board, including renewable electricity generation, transportation solutions (e.g., alternative fuels such as hydrogen), advancements in the circular economy, and putting waste materials to work.
  • Emerging international emissions trading mechanisms under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, specifically Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), could present opportunities in the future for Canadian firms to leverage European financing to deliver cleantech projects around the world.

Government of Canada Cleantech Challenges Launch

  • The Clean Growth Hub has been created to streamline funding access and scale Canadian solutions across nine challenge areas.
  • Sign up for the newsletter at www.Canada.ca/innovative-solutions to keep up to speed on Innovative Solutions Canada challenges and weekly updates.
  • Any company who responds to one of the challenge themes (as long as the submission meets all the challenge criteria) will receive peer-reviewed feedback from business and scientific viewpoints, including how to write and prepare the submission for the future.

“The Clean Growth Hub brings together 16 different departments and agencies that support Canadian cleantech solutions and ultimately streamlines the experience of navigating the complexity of government funding.”—Dominic Aquilina, Clean Growth Hub

2020 Starts the Decade for Effective Climate Leadership - Offsetters

2020 Starts the Decade for Effective Climate Leadership

By: Phil Cull, CEO, Offsetters 

Heading into 2020, the world faces a pressing reality—we have 10 years to keep global warming below 1.5ᵒC and cut global emissions by 45% of 2010 levelsMeaningful change has had a slow uptake; however, the last few years have been a turning point for mass public awareness and advocacy on environmental issues. By the end of last decade, millions of people across the world had taken to the streets to protest climate change inaction. The messages echoing from the streets were clear: We are not doing enough. Listen to the science. Protect nature and people. Act on climate.  

 

The best time to act was yesterday. The secondbest time is now. 

The next decade is our last opportunity to take responsibility for what climate scientists have been saying for yearsIt is clear that we need to transform the way the global economy impacts the climate, environment, and people. It is clear that sustainability as it has been approached in the past isn’t enough anymore. And, after the disappointing results of COP25 in Madrid, it is also clear that business leaders have the responsibility to lead in areas where international cooperation remains at a standstill.   

The good news is that businesses are starting to get the messageIn our work within the carbon management space, we have witnessed an important corporate culture shift towards embracing climate actionPrivate sector interest in carbon management is growing rapidlyIn 2019, between September and December alone, corporate buy-in to Science Based Targets doubled in sizeHundreds of organizations have come to us curious about measuring, reducing, and offsetting their impacts. However, climate leadership still needs to go beyond just measuring and offsetting emissions. 

 

We need the leaders of the future to step up today. 

Although there are now 187 countries signed onto reduction targets through the Paris Agreement and more than 9,000 companies and governments worldwide reporting environmental information to the Carbon Disclosure Project, we are still failing to meet global targets. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, global emissions have still increased by 4%The UN has now reported that we need to reduce emissions by at least 7.6% every year by 2030—that’s if we started todayBy 2025, the reductions necessary for a 1.5 degree world could be as high as 15.5% each year 

There is a lot of work to do. 

 

Effective action requires real climate leadership. 

A future where real climate leadership takes center stage will require a sense of urgency, innovation, a lot of grit, and a true commitment to change. Venturing away from the comfort of doing ‘what you think you can’ towards doing ‘what you know you must’ is both difficult and necessary for effective climate action 

Climate leaders of the new decade will need to embrace new valuesOur 2020 climate leaders will be committed to transparency and continuous improvement—mapping their supply chains and taking responsibility for all their impacts. They will be engaged in climate policy and lobbying for more effective systems that create real solutions. Climate justice and equity will be front of mind—prioritizing relationships with Indigenous communities, the land, and all other stakeholdersLeaders will have redesigned business models that prioritize Science Based Targets, natural capital, equity and diversity, circular economies, internal carbon prices, and enforceable policies to support them. The thought leaders of the 2020s will transform entire industries. 

 

We’re ready for change. We just have to create it. 

Some companies are already leading the way. In December 2019, Harbour Air made headlines for its historic launch of the world’s first all-electric commercial airplane. Harbour Air has always been committed to climate action. The Vancouver-based airline has been Carbon Neutral through Offsetters for 12 yearsThey have also been consistently dedicated to improving fuel efficiency, lowering their impactand investing in real emissions reductionsNow, they will soon be a world leader in low carbon aviation. 

The lowcarbon transition no longer means talking about how our industries will change 20 years from now. It means embracing climate planning, innovation, and technological investments todayAs aenvironmental services company, Offsetters defines success by empowering those we work with to make an impact on climateTo do our part to foster a better futurewe plan to spend the 2020s and beyond putting climate leadership at the forefront of everything we do and we invite you to do the same. This decade, it’s our only option.  

 

Phil Cull is the CEO at Offsetters. He is responsible for the delivery of emissions reductions from Offsetters’ portfolios and is a key member of the project development team, particularly in the high level design and quality control role. He also is responsible for the development of carbon finance deal structures, revenue sharing arrangements and manages offtake negotiations for Offsetters and its clients. Phil has been involved in project development, quality control and financing for projects both in the clean technology and land use arenas. He is a key technical review resource and leads Offsetters’ project due diligence. Phil is heavily involved in the Canadian clean tech community and regularly speaks on carbon finance at conferences on behalf of Offsetters.