Climate change and Canada?s response to it have profound economic implications for our nation?s future. There are risks but there are also opportunities. We need to position ourselves to compete and prosper in an increasingly carbon-constrained global economy. Ensuring Canada is well-prepared to adapt and prosper as part of this new reality is the focus of a comprehensive policy research initiative by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), called Climate Prosperity.

Our aim is to provide insight for Canadians and policy advice to governments on both the economic risks and the economic opportunities for Canada associated with a warming planet. We need to think differently about what this will mean, not just to our economy today, but to a changing economy for the future. Preparing ourselves for the transition to economic success in a low-carbon-emission economy is critical to help maintain our standard of living and ensure jobs for today?s and tomorrow?s generations.

Most of all, we need to change how Canadians see and think about climate change - from risk to opportunity, from cost to investment, from today to tomorrow. This is not just about coping with climate change, but prospering through it. Climate change is a long-term challenge requiring long-term thinking. Thinking ahead will help determine what this will mean in the long-run for Canadians and what governments can and must do to get ready and help secure our future in a climate-changing world. The NRTEE?s landmark program - the first and most comprehensive Canadian public policy analysis yet on the economics of climate change - will help do just that.

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