On April 3rd, 2024, Green Economy Canada kicked off our new national sustainability events season with Sustainability Leadership: Setting the Tone for Change. A big thanks to Coro Strandberg (Strandberg Consulting) and Tom Ewart (Associate Vice-President of Sustainability, Co-operators) for a lively and insightful discussion on what sustainability leadership looks like, what drives it, and how to cultivate it within your organization. Missed the event? We’ve recapped some of the key takeaways below, and provided links to the event recording and some suggested resources on this topic. If y ..read more

The Climate Action Boot Camp is back to help Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises learn more about future-proofing their business! This is a great opportunity for organizations to get started on their sustainability journey for free. The Climate Action Boot Camp is back to help Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises learn more about future-proofing their business! This is a great opportunity for organizations to get started on their sustainability journey for free. In this workshop series, you will learn about the growing business case for reducing your carbon emissions, ga ..read more

By Mike Morrice, Executive Director, Green Economy Canada & Matt Hoffmann, Board Chair, Green Economy Canada Ten years ago a friend and I stumbled into a research project that started me on a journey beyond my wildest expectations, all because I listened to what felt like a calling. I read a book that shook me to my core, I met a professor that was willing to mentor me, and my community at the time, Waterloo Region, rallied around an idea – embedding sustainability into how businesses operate – whose time had come. Five years later my role shifted but the path was the same: we started Gree ..read more

By Mike Morrice, Executive Director, Green Economy Canada It’s all because of tablespoons, really. I was in a meeting with a prospective collaborator, about three years ago. Their VP was earnestly trying to better understand what we did. “So, the program you’re sharing with each community, what do you call it?” she asked. I shared with her, the incredibly descriptive name I’d come up with years before, “Target-based sustainability programs, for businesses.” “Oh,” she said. “Okay, well, TBSPs for short then, right?.” “Sure,” I replied. “Okay,” she said. “Tablespoons for short.” And while we’ve ..read more

By Mike Morrice, Executive Director, Sustainability CoLab “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ― Arundhati Roy It’s been just over one month since COP 21. Going in to the conference, global climate change commitments were estimated to put us on track for a 2.7 degrees C rise in temperature. Viewed by many as a game changer, at COP 21, 195 signatory countries channelled their shared ambition to create the Paris Agreement. Together, they aspire to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels through voluntary targ ..read more

By Mike Morrice, Executive Director, Sustainability CoLab Photo credit: Alex Guibord This past June, I was invited to speak with the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Environment & Sustainable Development. While the study I was to be a witness for was fitting (“the role of the private sector in Canada in showing leadership by partnering with not for profit organizations to undertake local environmental initiatives”), I was surprised. The Government of Canada hadn’t asked for my advice at any point before. Not while I was leading Sustainable Waterloo Region (SWR). Not in the time si ..read more