Environment and EnergyEnvironment and Energy
Public Panel “FrankenPlanet or Climate Salvation?: The Governance of Geo-Engineering”
CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER Warm Front or Deep Freeze? International Climate Policy in 2011
The G20’s Food Security Agenda: Making Positive Change or Passing the Buck?
When it comes to food security and agriculture, the G20 seems to be all too willing to take the credit while passing the buck. It wants to set the agenda on world food security. But it has been reluctant to require the G20 governments themselves to coordinate regulatory changes to address high and rising food prices or put the kind of money needed into agricultural investment in the world’s poorest countries.
Public event on Rio+20 CANCELLED
The Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA)’s public event scheduled for May 3, Rio+20: A Waste of Time or a New Beginning?, has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict.
The Challenge for Rio+20: Countering Two Decades of Inaction
To mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit, the United Nations is holding its Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. For a better understanding of the issues at play and a sense of what to expect from “Rio+20,” we talk to CIGI Distinguished Fellow David Runnalls.
All's not lost, Ontario. The future is green, not black
In an op-ed to The Globe and Mail, Thomas Homer-Dixon, CIGI Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, writes that "Ontario can be in the vanguard of one of the biggest technological revolutions humanity will ever experience."
China: the path to responsible business and sustainable growth
In an op-ed to The Guardian, CIGI Senior Visiting Fellow Simon Zadek writes that "responsible, green business practice is a pre-condition for China's domestic stability, its moral mandate as an emerging super-power, and hopes for a more sustainable global economy that is currently in environmental freefall."
Reports of Cheap Oil's Death Are Not Greatly Exaggerated
With new sources and methods of global petroleum production coming on stream — shale fracking, ultra-deepwater drilling and new fields in Africa, to name a few — some energy analysts have argued that reports of the death of cheap oil have been greatly exaggerated. In this week's CIGI Interview, Thomas Homer-Dixon takes issue with these "oil optimists," saying that the petroleum our global economy can afford to consume is indeed running out, and that we need to be much more aggressive in developing alternative energy sources.
Our peak oil premium
CIGI Chair of Global System Thomas Homer-Dixon writes on "Our peak oil premium." He argues that we're much closer to an oil peak than most people acknowledge.
CIGI experts available to comment on UN report on global sustainability
To provide comment and context on the United Nations’ High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (UN GSP), The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) will have two experts available to media.
UN Panel Calls for Integration of Environment into International Economic Reforms
A quarter of a century ago, the Brundtland Commission outlined the concept of sustainable development for the first time. It began its rather sobering report with the memorable phrase, “The Earth is one but the world is not,” to describe the interactions between the world’s environmental and economic and political systems. Sustainable development was to provide a new paradigm for economic growth, social equality and environmental sustainability.
Global Sustainability: Pursuing the Elusive Prize
As the world’s political and business leaders head home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, it is right asking which of the world’s toughest challenges were identified, let alone solved, on the “Magic Mountain.” Timely, then, that today the UN launches the report of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability.
Searching for Disruption, Sustainability and Transformation at Davos
Heads of state and leading figures from business and academia gather this week in Davos, Switzerland to “shape global, regional and industry agendas,” as part of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting. With this year’s conference entitled "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models," we talk to WEF Sustainability Adviser and CIGI Senior Visiting Fellow Simon Zadek on what the forum’s unique composition can offer in terms of economic recovery and a move toward green growth.
Event Video: "Geoengineering our Climate" Keynote and Panel Discussion
Concepts for intentionally modifying our global climate — known as geoengineering — are rapidly emerging into the scientific policy and public discussions surrounding climate change. This public event, which took place in Ottawa on January 18, features a keynote address from Professor Steve Rayner (Oxford University) and a responding panel of leading international academics and practitioners.
Public panel opens CIGI conference on scientific policy implications for geoengineering
CIGI is hosting the public panel Geoengineering Our Climate: Science, Ethics and Governance, from 5:30 to 7 pm, Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at Ottawa’s Lord Elgin Hotel (details below)
United Nations Global Sustainability Panel
In August 2010, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the UN High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability to formulate a new blueprint for sustainable growth. The panel was tasked with exploring different approaches to effectively tackle hunger, inequality and the deterioration of the natural environment.
Geoengineering Our Climate
Concepts for intentionally modifying our global climate — known as geoengineering — are rapidly emerging into the scientific and policy discussions surrounding climate change. This project focuses on the international governance framework for the various geoengineering modalities being proposed across the globe.
2012: the year of the unreasonable
"Time will tell whether 2012 will be a disaster on the scale that Lagarde predicts, and let's hope not. But, as predictions go, one cannot go far wrong in saying that 2012 is going to be ghastly for, quite literally, hundreds of millions of people," warns CIGI Senior Visiting Fellow Simon Zadek.
CIGI Experts Predict Global Governance Challenges for 2012
This week, CIGI experts David Runnalls, Eric Helleiner, Gregory Chin and Mark Sedra share their thoughts on what 2012 will bring in terms of environment and energy, the global economy, global development and global security challenges.
Sustainable Economics
Sustainable economies in the 21st century that are vibrant, competitive and successful will internalize environmental costs into a new generation of technologies, products, businesses, markets. This program, whilst factoring in and in some instances contributing to this thrust, will focus on the financial economy.