What If We Get This Transition Right?

For an energy transformation of this depth and scale, we better have a clear idea of where we’re going. After all, how can we build pathways to a destination we can’t fully envision?

Résumé du webinaire

We talk a lot about getting to a net-zero future, but what does that future actually look like? What actions can we take now to secure Canada’s role in the new energy economy?

Listen to the full conversation between three expert panelists, Elena Pravettoni (Clean Power Lead at the Energy Transitions Commission), Bentley Allen (Transition Pathway Principal at Transition Accelerator) and Teresa Kramarz (Assistant Professor and Environmental Governance Lab Co-Director at the University of Toronto) as they dive into these fundamental questions and paint a vision of our net-zero future.

The panelists explore Canada’s barriers and trade-offs and emphasize the importance of community and stakeholders’ involvement and collaboration. They also share concrete examples of national and international projects, offering valuable insights and lessons learned along the way.

Achieving a net-zero future requires aligning politics and economics with a strategic 2050 mindset. emphasized Bentley Allen, Transition Pathway Principal at the Transition Accelerator.

The Electrons, Rocks, and Brains report clarifies the sources of power and prosperity for countries in the new net-zero world and positions them within the 2050 global green economy. “The core message [of the report] is that Canada has this amazing natural resource base that will put it in a very strong position over the transition of the next 25-30 years. But in order to actually take advantage of it, we need to get very strategic about building the knowledge and the production networks around our natural resource base,” said Bentley Allen, Transition Pathway Principal at the Transition Accelerator.

When it comes to public investment and determining which trade-offs are worth making, justice is an important lens, according to Teresa Kramarz, assistant Professor and Environmental Governance Lab Co-Director at the University of Toronto. “Who are the winners and losers, and who are going to be permanent minorities because of the continuation of the powerlessness of certain constituencies? How much harm to the environment is going to be done in order to purportedly do well for the environment and for us?

There are a range of infrastructure, regulatory and administrative barriers to planning and permitting. However, as Elena Pravettoni, Clean Power Lead at the Energy Transitions Commission, pointed out, “there are clear actions that can be taken to make sure that solving these planning and permitting challenges benefits everyone, that we can be community-focused, biodiversity-aware and positive in some cases, and that we can really take on board the whole set of interests”.

She also added, “there are win-win actions that we can take to make sure that global energy supply chains can deliver the transition at the speed and scale required, but countries will have to understand their priorities and act accordingly to map out that future sort of supply chain.”

Personnes invitées

Jane McDonald

Membre du conseil d'administration

Jane McDonald est présidente par intérim de l’Institut international du développement durable (IIDD), un groupe de réflexion indépendant prônant des solutions durables pour résoudre les problèmes du XXIe siècle. À ce titre, elle supervise l’équipe mondiale de l’IIDD dont les actions visent à faire progresser les économies équitables, protéger l’eau douce et accélérer la mise en œuvre de solutions aux problèmes climatiques.

Mme McDonald possède plus de 15 années d’expérience, au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde, en matière de collaboration avec les gouvernements, les dirigeants d’entreprises et les principaux groupes de réflexion dans le but de faire progresser le développement durable. Elle a créé de nouveaux marchés environnementaux à la banque d’investissement Cantor Fitzgerald et dirigé les efforts de plaidoyer visant à inclure les exportations canadiennes d’électricité renouvelable dans le plan américain sur l’énergie propre.

De 2015 à 2016, Mme McDonald a occupé le poste de directrice des politiques pour la ministre canadienne de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique. À ce titre, elle a appuyé le rôle du gouvernement canadien dans l’Accord de Paris ainsi que dans les négociations menées avec les provinces au sujet du Cadre pancanadien sur la croissance propre et les changements climatiques. En 2018, elle s’est jointe à un groupe diversifié d’intervenants au sein du Conseil Génération Énergie du Canada et participé à l’élaboration de la première vision énergétique du Canada conforme aux objectifs climatiques du pays.

Mme McDonald a étudié l’économie, les sciences politiques et la littérature à l’Université McGill et obtenu un MBA international de l’Université York à Toronto et de l’ESSEC à Paris.

Bentley Allan, PhD

Conseiller principal – trajectoires de transition

Bentley Allan, PhD, est conseiller principal – trajectoires de transition à l’Accélérateur de Transition et professeur associé de sciences politiques à l’université Johns Hopkins. Le professeur Allan est un chercheur qui a obtenu de nombreux prix et qui a écrit sur les dynamiques de l’ordre international, le rapport entre la science et la politique, la politique climatique et l’économie politique de la décarbonation. Il conseille régulièrement le gouvernement et l’industrie en matière de géopolitique, de stratégie industrielle et de politique.

Il a codirigé l’élaboration de trois stratégies sectorielles et de feuilles de route en collaboration avec des partenaires industriels. Il est le co-coordinateur du Centre de Politique Industrielle pour la Carboneutralité qui fait avancer la recherche et l’action pour renforcer et mobiliser l’expertise du Canada en matière de politique industrielle moderne, permettant une collaboration stratégique entre le gouvernement, l’industrie, les communautés indigènes, les syndicats et les institutions financières dans la recherche d’emplois et d’une économie compétitive.

Teresa Kramarz

Assistant Professor, School of the Environment in the University of Toronto.

Teresa Kramarz is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Environment in the University of Toronto. She is the Co-Director of the Environmental Governance Lab, the Co-Chair of the United Nations Development Programme’s External Advisory Group for Energy Governance and the co-convener of the Accountability in Global Environmental Governance Task Force of the Earth System Governance network. Her work focuses on the governance of extractive industries in the renewable energy transition, environmental accountability, and environmental partnerships led by international organizations. She has published three books – “Forgotten Values: The World Bank and Environmental Partnerships” and “Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap” with MIT Press; and “Populist Moments and Extractivist States in Venezuela and Ecuador: The People’s Oil?” with Palgrave. Recent articles appear in Regulation and Governance, Environmental Politics, Global Environmental Politics, and Energy Research and Social Science. She has been working on environmental policy and governance issues for almost 30 years starting as an international civil servant in the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme, and then as a scholar.

Elena Pravettoni

Clean Power Lead, Energy Transitions Commission

Elena is the Clean Power Lead for the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), a global coalition of leaders from across the energy landscape committed to achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century. Elena oversees the analytical work programme on clean power, collaborating with the ETC’s Commissioners and experts. Her current focus has been on a report series on Barriers to Clean Electrification, and she is the lead author of the ETC report Making Clean Electrification Possible: 30 years to electrify the global economy. She has also led work for global mitigation efforts for the ETC’s Keeping 1.5°C Alive series, working with COP teams. Prior to joining the ETC, Elena worked in the Energy group at IHS Markit in Washington DC and London, focusing on long term global energy scenarios. She was also the research assistant for Pulitzer-Prize winning author Daniel Yergin’s recent book on energy geopolitics, The New Map. Elena holds an MA in International Relations and Economics from SAIS Johns Hopkins, and a BA in European Studies with First Class Honours from King’s College London.

Avr 22, 2024