Economic Risks and Opportunities of Climate Change for Canada

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) has embarked on a two-year catalytic program to assess the economic risks and opportunities for Canada related to climate change. Inspired by Lord Stern?s Review on the Economics of Climate Change, the main objectives of the program are to enhance the understanding of the economic risks and opportunities that climate change brings for Canada?s economy, as a result of both the physical impacts of climate change and the global low-carbon transition Both the physical impacts and global transition have profound implications for Canada?s economy over the coming decades.

There is insufficient knowledge about what the physical impacts of a changing climate will mean for Canada?s economy, and our policy stakeholders have reinforced the value of NRTEE work in this area. The impacts from climate change and the related damages will bring both risks and opportunities for Canada?s economy.

We also lack understanding of how Canada can best take advantage of a global transition to a low-carbon economy, and what is at stake if it fails to act or is slow to act. New research will need to identify sectors with greatest opportunities or risks, and to benchmark Canada?s performance in terms of low-carbon innovation.

The program is a major priority for the NRTEE over the next two years. The level of dedicated resources is significant, and substantial effort will be dedicated to ongoing engagement and communications. In addition to a final synthesis report, the program is structured to be dynamic and interactive, engaging stakeholders and producing multiple deliverables to inform key events such as the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and the G8 meeting that Canada will host in 2010.

Policies and major investment decisions (in both the private and public sectors) should be informed by these implications. The broader economic implications of climate change are wide-reaching, and yet are often not considered by decision makers in government and industry. Our program therefore seeks to a) highlight and communicate the economic risks and opportunities from climate change and efforts to reduce GHG emissions, thus informing the policy dialogue and public understanding of what climate change means for Canada; and b) provide policy advice to Canada?s governments on how to reduce the economic risks of climate change, and maximise the economic opportunities.

Our primary goal, therefore, is about changing the debate, injecting economics into the climate change file, and raising awareness. Research alone will not achieve this goal. Research will always be challenged, and the NRTEE is a public policy advisory body, not a research institute. Instead, we must engage, bring people together, and seek profile for the program and for our ideas and findings ? and those of others.