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The RBC Climate Action Institute co-hosted a special session today in Ottawa with the British High Commission, to share views with the diplomatic corps on where we see global climate policy heading and how Canada is positioned for the rest of the 2020s. Here’s some of what I discussed in a conversation moderated by Deputy High Commissioner David Prodger:
- Climate policy needs to be reframed (and maybe reshaped) to deliver direct cost-of-living benefits. Think energy efficiency.
- “Security” may be Word of the Year in 2025. Can climate policy add to our need for security of exports? We may be able to better deploy our industrial carbon pricing systems, run by the provinces, to position Canadian products as cleaner than others, especially in the U.S. and European markers.
- Expect more dual-purpose alliances for energy security and climate action. A G7 approach to nuclear energy cooperation, for instance, could add to Canada’s role as host in 2025.
- Private capital will continue to move ahead of public policy. As we will show in our upcoming Climate Action 2025 report, climate capital is still growing — not as much as it needs to, but the trajectory is up.
- Innovation and technology will be key. Even in tight budget times, we’ll need to invest ambitiously in research and development.
- International financial institutes like the World Bank will need to take on more of the climate finance load for developing countries. Will China step up to help? And how will the U.S. react?
- Developing nations will continue to raise pressure around resilience and adaptation. More money for disaster-proofing may be a good thing, unless it comes at the cost of prevention.
- As the world’s biggest emitters — the U.S. and China — go their own ways, other countries will need to build bridges between North and South, East and West, rich and poor, big and small. Is that still a role for Canada?
Great comments from a range of countries, with a general concern that the headwinds for climate action are growing, and more international cooperation will be needed, even in a more divided world.
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