Facing Forwad - Looking Back conference programFacing Forward Looking Back Conference Program Charting Sustainable Development in Canada 1987–2007–2027 National Arts Centre •

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Charting Sustainable Development in Canada1987–2007–2027National Arts Centre • Ottawa, Ontario • October 18 and 19, 2007

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18

THEME: GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

8:30 - 8:45 Conference Opening Remarks

8:45 - 10:15 Looking Back: How Have we Done in Canada

10:15 - 10:30 NETWORKING / Coffee Break

10:30 - 12:00 Political Parties, Elections and Sustainable Development

12:00 - 1:30 LUNCHEON / David Runnalls, President, International Institute for Sustainable Development

1:30 - 3:00 The Role of Governmental Institutions


3:15 - 4:45 The Sustainability Imperative and the Influence of Science on Policy

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19

THEME: GROWING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT HOME AND ABROAD

8:30 - 10:00 Canadian Business and the Sustainability Challenge


10:15 - 11:45 Cities, Communities and Education

11:45 - 1:30 LUNCHEON / Vicky Sharpe, President and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada

1:30 - 3:00 Canada’s Role in International Sustainable Development


3:15 - 5:00 Where to from Here … And How?

Information for Conference participants

Please note that wireless internet is available. See volunteers at the registration desk for security code.

Pay telephones are available near washrooms.

There is an elevator available for access to the parking level.

Please be aware that smoking is only permitted on the terrace.

The National Arts Centre has offered conference participants the use of the “Theatre Lounge”. Please seevolunteers for directions.

Please do not hesitate to ask our volunteers and conference organizers for assistance.

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Cover photo: iStockphoto


Concerns about the environment and developmentare not new. More recently the ongoing globaldialogue has formed around the strategies neededto address the inter-related challenges of buildinghealthy societies, economies, and environments.Thisdialogue has its roots in the gradual merging of theenvironmental movement and the post- World WarII international development community. Over thepast fifty-five years, optimism about the creation of amodern technological utopia has been replaced bya more realistic understanding of the forcescontributing to the world’s problems. Many peopleconsider 1962 as the seminal year in which peoplebegan to understand how closely linked theenvironment and development truly are.

Twenty years ago the Brundtland CommissionReport Our Common Future was released,establishing and defining sustainable developmentas the global way forward. The report gained world-wide currency through the work of the UNCommission initiated in 1984—World Commissionon Environment and Development (WCED), chairedby then Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro HarlemBrundtland.

Gro Harlem Brundtland (born April 20, 1939) is aNorwegian politician, diplomat, and physician, and

an international leader in sustainable developmentand public health. She is a former Prime Minister ofNorway, and has served as the Director General ofthe World Health Organization. She now serves as aSpecial Envoy on Climate Change for the UnitedNations Secretary-General.

The report stated that critical global environmentalproblems were primarily the result of the enormouspoverty of the “South” and the non-sustainablepatterns of consumption and production in the“North”. It called for a strategy that uniteddevelopment and the environment—described bythe now-common term sustainable development.

The most quoted definition of sustainabledevelopment resulted from the Brundtland report as“Sustainable development is development thatmeets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations tomeet their own needs.”

Now, in 2007, we have the unique opportunity tolook back on the past twenty years in Canada toassess our accomplishments and learn from ourfailures. Only then can we attempt to look forwardanother twenty years and chart our way to a newsustainable future.

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It has now been twenty years since the publicationof Our Common Future. This seminal reportestablished and defined sustainable developmentas the way forward for our planet.Two decades later,we now have the unique opportunity to look backand assess our accomplishments and our failures.Only then can we attempt to look forward anothertwenty years and chart our way to a new sustainablefuture.

This conference explores Canadian issues throughthe vital lens of sustainable development. How farhave we come as a nation to developing asustainable country? And how far do we still need togo to achieve our goals?

The International Institute for SustainableDevelopment (IISD), the Carleton Research Unit onInnovation, Science and the Environment (CRUISE)and the Canada Research Chair in Governance forSustainable Development invite you to reflect onthe past 20 years of experience in sustainabledevelopment; and to dream together of asustainable Canadian and global future.

As your co-chairs for this conference we would liketo welcome all of our participants and guests. Wehope that you will find the discussions valuable toyour own critical work in this field.

David Runnalls, Glen Toner, James Meadowcroft

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David Runnalls Glen Toner James Meadowcroft


Thursday, October 18, 8:45 – 10:15 am

Conference Opening Roundtable

Looking Back: How have we done in Canada?

What has Canada accomplished with respect to sustainable development over the past two decades?Panelists will discuss Canada’s past performance and offer a frank assessment of our current strengths andweaknesses.

Moderator: David Runnalls, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Panelists: Jim MacNeill, World Commission on Environment and DevelopmentGord Lambert, Suncor Energy Inc.Alan Nymark, Queeen’s UniversityElizabeth Dowdeswell, Green Ribbon Panel

Thursday, October 18, 10:30 – 12:00 noon

Political Parties, Elections and Sustainable Development

Integrating sustainable development issues into the Canadian political system is an absolute necessity. Buthow can we convince political elites that sustainability—which requires a substantial change to “business asusual”—is critical?

In addition, we will address the issues of electoral politics and the dynamics of the Canadian party system thatmake it difficult to bring about the policy realignments required for sustainability. Discussions will centre onhow to move sustainability forward in the political realm.

Moderator: James Meadowcroft, Carlton University

Discussants: David Anderson, former Minister of Environment, CanadaTim Sale, former Manitoba Minister of Health

Authors: Roger Gibbins, Canada West FoundationMark Winfield, York University

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David Runnalls Jim MacNeill Gord Lambert Alan Nymark ElizabethDowdeswell

Mark WinfieldJames Meadowcroft David Anderson Tim Sale Roger Gibbins


Thursday, October 18 1:30 – 3:00 pm

The Role of Governmental Institutions

The Canadian government has formally incorporated sustainable development into much of their planningand policy development.But has the government been truly able to incorporate it into its day-to-day practiceof every department? How can we ensure that sustainable development policies go beyond formalities andbecome a real guideline by which all programs will be measured?

Moderator: Bruce Doern, Carleton University

Discussants: Stephanie Cairns, International Institute for Sustainable DevelopmentStewart Elgie, University of Ottawa

Authors: Ann Dale, Royal Roads UniversityGlen Toner, Carleton UniversityFrancois Bregha, Stratos Inc.

Thursday, October 18 3:15 – 4:45 pm

The Sustainability Imperative and the Influence of Science on Policy

Sustainability involves complex scientific issues and difficult political choices. How can science lend itself tomore easily to those who have to make those political choices? And how can policy makers be certain thatthey are relying on current and accurate scientific information? By bridging the gap between scientists andpolicy-makers those in the sustainable development field may be better able to influence change for thefuture.

Moderator: Robert Slater, Carleton University

Discussants: Jean Piette, Ogilvy RenaultDavid Keith, University of Calgary

Authors: Robert Gibson, University of WaterlooGordon McBean, University of Western Ontario

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Robert Slater Jean Piette David Keith Robert Gibson Gordon McBean

Bruce Doern Stephanie Cairns Stewart Elgie Ann Dale Glen Toner Francois Bregha


Friday, October 19 8:30 – 10:00 am

Canadian Business and the Sustainability Challenge

Business is fluid, dynamic and exceptionally flexible which has allowed it to readily adapt to a new world ofenvironmental concern. This panel will look at how business organizations have a critical role to play indeveloping new portfolios of products and services that can help the societal transition towards moresustainable patterns of production and consumption. Although a number of Canadian companies aredistinguished innovators in this field, it is probably fair to say that the bulk of the business community has notfully engaged with these issues. How can we learn from the successful Canadian corporations and engagethe businesses that have not yet come on board?

Moderator: Paul Griss, New Directions Group

Discussants: Tima Bansal, University of Western OntarioToby Heaps, Corporate Knights

Authors: Kevin Brady, Five Winds InternationalDavid Wheeler, Dalhousie UniversityAnnika Tamlyn, National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy

Friday, October 19 10:15 – 11:45 am

Cities, Communities and Education

It is in our Canadian cities where the rubber hits the road for sustainable development. It is within cities andcommunities that problems of sustainability become concrete, and where quite limited resources must beapplied to deal with economic, social and environmental issues. Explore the challenges confronting cities,communities and education and their importance in moving towards more sustainable patterns of living.And of course “sustainability education”—developing understanding throughout society of the implicationsof the current development trajectory, and of the urgency to re-orient towards a more sustainable future—is clearly critical.

Moderator: Jonathan Westeinde, Windmill Development Group

Discussants: Jean Perras, Mayor of Chelsea, QuebecCharles Hopkins, York University

Authors: David V. J. Bell, York UniversityChris Stoney, Carleton UniversityRobert Hilton, Carleton University

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Paul Griss Tima Bansal Toby Heaps Kevin Brady David Wheeler Annika Tamlyn

JonathanWesteinde

Jean Perras David V. J. Bell Chris Stoney Robert HiltonCharles Hopkins


Friday, October 19 1:30 – 3:00 pm

Canada’s Role in International Sustainable Development

Internationally there is a strong concern for sustainable development propelled more recently by a risingglobal awareness about the impacts of global threats such as climate change and other transnational risks.Still, research and other efforts to address the challenges ahead are limited. Where does Canada fit into theinternational sustainable development arena? What is our role now and for the future?”

Moderator: Maureen O’Neil, International Development Research Centre

Discussants: George Greene, Stratos Inc.Jean Lebel, International Development Research Centre

Author: Ligia Noronha, The Energy and Resources Institute, India

Friday, October 19 3:15 – 5:00 pm

Conference Closing Roundtable

Where to from here … and how?

Explore the nature of the challenges that will confront us in coming decades and consider what Canada cando to improve its performance on sustainable development. Our hope is that the roundtable can drawtogether insights from previous panels and reflect on the future.

Moderator: David Runnalls, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Panelists: Ken Ogilvie, Pollution ProbeJames Meadowcroft, Carleton UniversityJohanne Gelinas, Deloitte and ToucheJohn Robinson, University of British Columbia

Maureen O’Neil George Greene Jean Lebel Ligia Noronha

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David Runnalls Ken Oglivie James Meadowcroft Johanne Gelinas John Robinson


David RunnallsPresident, IISD

He served as co-chair at the China Task Force on WTO and Environment. Runnalls was theLeopold Fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a memberof the federal External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulation (EACSR). He serves asChair of the Adjudication Panel for the ALCAN Prize for Sustainability. He is a member ofthe Board of the Institute of Advanced Studies of the United Nations University. He is also

a member of the Advisory Committee on Partnerships to the Minister for International Cooperation; amember of the Environment Canada Cross-Cutting Issues table and a member of the Advisory Council forExport Development Canada. He also serves on the Inquiry Team for Tomorrow’s Global Company and is amember of the International Sustainability Innovation Council of Switzerland.

Runnalls has served as Senior Advisor to the President of the International Development Research Centre(IDRC) in Ottawa, Canada, and to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. He wasDirector of the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme at the Institute for Research on PublicPolicy in Ottawa. He worked with Barbara Ward to found the International Institute for Environment andDevelopment and directed both its London and Washington offices.

Runnalls was the Canadian Board member of IUCN – the World Conservation Union for six years and the Chairof the Committee for the World Conservation Congress in 1996. He served as a member of the Boards of theWorld Environment Center (New York), IIED (London) and Pollution Probe (Toronto).

Runnalls participated in last summer’s Annual Meeting of the Canadian Standards Association. In addition toIISD’s work on the CSR standard, it is hopeful that IISD can make some progress on the development of aninternational standard for e-waste, which would complement some of IISD’s work on China.

He is participating in the Tomorrow’s Global Company Inquiry. This group, which includes BP, Deloittes,McKinsey, Infosys, Ford, as well as Suez, aims to produce a report on the future of the large corporation overthe next three decades.

Runnalls was an invited presenter to the North American meeting of the Trilateral Commission, presided overby former House Speaker Tom Foley, Henry Kissinger and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo.He led theCanadian portion of the discussion on North American energy futures and climate change.

In late October 2006, Runnalls chaired the launch of Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) report at the NationalPress Club in Washington. The week before the launch he gave a dinner speech at the annual internationalconference on Ecological Fiscal Reform and Green Taxes. David talked about the GSI findings on U.S. subsidiesto the biofuels industry.

He served as Co-Chair of the China Council Task Force on WTO and Environment. Runnalls continues to Chairthe Global Markets Task Force which IISD established with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The groupoversees the work which our Chinese and international partners are doing on the impacts of China’s trade inforest products, cotton and e-wastes on other countries.

Dr. Glen TonerGlen Toner is an expert in public policy implementation and in environment andsustainable development policy.

Over the past twenty-seven years he has advised a number of federal governmentdepartments, including Environment Canada, Industry Canada, Natural Resources Canada,Transport Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs, and the Office of the Auditor General. Dr.Toner co-founded the New Directions Group of industry and environmental Leaders. He

chaired the Advisory Committee for the Guide to Green Government. He founded and is a member of theAdvisory Committee of the Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development. He facilitated theNational Roundtable on the Environment and Economy program which produced the study Toward aCanadian Agenda for Ecological Fiscal Reform. He has recently testified before both Senate and House ofCommons Committees on sustainable development issues. He teaches courses on Policy and DecisionMaking; the Science, Economics and Politics of Global Climate Change; Industrial Policy, Innovation andSustainable Development; and Implementing Sustainable Development in Industrialized Countries in the

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Graduate School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University where he is a Professor. He isDirector of CRUISE, the Carleton Research Unit in Innovation, Science and Environment policy.

In March 2003, he was awarded the first School of Public Policy and Administration Award for Excellence inTeaching. He is a native of Western Canada and has degrees from the Universities of Saskatchewan andAlberta and Carleton University. Dr.Toner is the author of numerous publications on energy, environment andsustainable development policy issues. His most recent edited books are Innovation, Science and Environment:Canadian Policies and Performance (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008) and Sustainable Production: BuildingCanadian Capacity (UBC Press, 2006).

Dr. James MeadowcroftJames Meadowcroft holds a Canada Research Chair in Governance for Sustainable Developmentat Carlton University in Ottawa. He is a Professor in both the School of Public Policy andAdministration and in the Department of Political Science.He completed a BA at McGill Universityand a PhD at Oxford. After teaching at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. for more than adecade,he returned to Canada in 2004.

His research focuses on the ways in which governments in developed countries are adjustingtheir policies and practices following the emergence of environment and sustainable development-related concerns.

James Meadowcroft currently serves as Co-editor of the International Political Science Review and as AssociateEditor of the Journal of Political Ideologies.

He has published on many issues related to governance for sustainable development including democracy,planning and participation. His recent work is focused on the politics of energy and climate change.

He is now writing a book on the “ecological state”that examines the implications for contemporary governance ofthe emergence of the environment as a focus of political contestation and state intervention.He is also co-ordinatingan international project focused on “The politics and policy of carbon capture and storage” that explores politicalcontroversies and policy dilemmas associated with this policy option for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

His publications include:

“Governing the transition to a new energy economy,” in Armstrong, F. and Blundell, K. (eds.) Energy BeyondOil (Oxford University Press, 2007 forthcoming).

“National sustainable development strategies: features, challenges and reflexivity,” European Environment17 (2007): 152–163

“Building the environmental state,” Alternatives 33 (1) (2007): 11–17.

“Environmental political economy, technological transitions and the state,” New Political Economy, 10(4)2005: 479–498.

“From welfare state to ecostate?” in J. Barry and R. Eckersley (eds.), The State and the Global Ecological Crisis(MIT Press, 2005), pp. 3–23.

Dr. Vicky J. SharpePresident and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada(SDTC)

Vicky Sharpe is President and CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, aGovernment of Canada initiative whose mission is to build a sustainable developmenttechnology infrastructure in Canada.

Clean technologies contribute to the economy by increasing the productivity and competitiveness ofindustry while simultaneously reducing environmental impact. Recognizing this, SDTC is committed tosupporting technologies that contribute to clean air, climate change, clean water and clean land.

With over 25 years’experience in the energy industry—from exploration and production, through generationand distribution, to end-use—Dr. Sharpe has the knowledge, experience and passion needed to deliver onSDTC’s mandate.Throughout her career, Dr. Sharpe has successfully integrated sustainable development into

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business practices. As President of GRI Canada and Astral Group, she demonstrated leadership and vision inthe use of innovative technologies across Canada’s primary economic sectors. As Vice President of OntarioHydro International Inc., Dr. Sharpe created new global revenue streams for environmental and energyutilization practices. Prior to that, she held management positions in marketing, business development andtechnology innovation.

Dr. Sharpe has served on numerous technology and industry association committees, in particular as aninternational advisor on sustainability issues; has represented the Canadian energy sector at the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) Business Forum; and has chaired both the National Advisory Board on Energy,Science and Technology, and the Board of Directors of Clean Air Canada Inc. Her efforts were recognized withthe National Energy Conservation Association’s inaugural Energy Efficiency Award for outstandingcontributions to the energy industry.

As a widely recognized expert and advocate for sustainable development and technology innovation, shehas addressed both national and international audiences to promote an understanding of the culture shift invalues society must make to secure a sustainable future.

Dr. Sharpe holds a B.Sc. Honours in Applied Biology from Bath University, U.K., and a Ph.D. in Microbiology andChemistry, as applied to water pollution control, from Trent University, U.K.

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Facing Forwad - Looking Back conference programFacing Forward Looking Back Conference Program Charting Sustainable Development in Canada 1987–2007–2027 National Arts Centre •