Round Table @ work
Economic Risks and Opportunities of Climate Change for Canada

1. The Canada-U.S. Climate Policy Case Study

July 28, 2009

Expert stakehholders gathered to provide early input on the scope and methodology of a Canada-US Climate Policy case study underway by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), specifically on:

• Research scope and questions
• Choice of methodology, modelling scenarios and assumptions
• The work plan and principal audiences
• Desired outcomes of the work

Background

The Canada-US Climate Policy case study will provide much-needed insight on the economic implications of climate policy interactions between the two countries. It will also feed into the broader goals of the Economic Risks and Opportunities (EROCC) program by identifying the potential scale of economic risks and opportunities that Canada may face if its key trading partner implements more stringent climate policy measures than Canada. The US transition is particularly relevant to Canada, and is likely to result in significant short-term implications for Canada and its policy makers.

The high level goals of the study are to:

1) Identify short-term economic risks and opportunities for Canada resulting from possible interactions between Canadian and US climate policies

2) Recommend policy strategies for Canada to reduce identified risks and enable opportunities

2. Canada's Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy:  Benchmarking Study

July 29, 2009

Expert stakeholders gathered to provide early input on the scope and methodology of a benchmarking study underway by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) to measure Canada’s competitiveness in the transition to a low-carbon economy, specially on:

• Definition and key elements of a low-carbon economy for Canada
• Appropriate framework for benchmarking Canada’s resiliency and competitiveness in the transition to a low-carbon economy
• Indicators most useful for measuring resiliency and competitiveness in the transition to a low-carbon economy for Canada
• Desirable outcomes and key audiences of the work

Background:

The NRTEE is in the initial phases of building a benchmarking tool to assess Canada’s resiliency and competitive position in the long-term, global transition to a low-carbon economy. The analysis resulting from this tool will help the NRTEE to identify a desirable future trajectory for this transition – a key outcome of the broader EROCC program.

The key goals of the benchmarking study are to:

• Identify strengths, weaknesses, and potential comparative advantages in low-carbon opportunity areas for Canada
• Identify economic risks and opportunities Canada will face in a low-carbon future if it continues on its current trajectory
• Inform a desirable future trajectory for Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy
• Identify policy areas with greatest potential for maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks, and positioning Canada on a successful path forward in the transition to a low-carbon economy
• Identify future research needs for the EROCC program that will help to quantify risks and opportunities at the sectoral or regional level, and build policy recommendations for Canada’s participation in the global transition to a low-carbon economy

3. The Economic Risks from Climate Impacts:  Canadian Case Studies

July 30, 2009

Expert stakeholders gathered to provide early input and advice on the analytical approach and scope of a set of case studies to illustrate the economic risks of climate impacts for Canada – an initiative underway by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), specifically on:

• Clarity of the aims of the case studies, as part of the NRTEE’s EROCC program
• Issues of coverage and framing associated with the case study approach
• Candidate topics for case studies

Background:

The NRTEE has embarked on a two-year initiative on the economic risks and opportunities for Canada from (1) climate impacts and (2) the global transition to a low-carbon economy. The overall goal of the first stream of work is to illustrate, prioritize, monetize, and communicate the economic risks for Canada from climate impacts under different global emissions scenarios. Economic opportunities of climate change for Canada will feature more prominently in the NRTEE’s work on the global low-carbon transition.

The primary focus of the climate impacts research stream will be on raising awareness of the economic risks of a changing climate for Canada, and highlighting the policy responses to reduce those risks – in terms of both mitigation and adaptation. The current debate on climate change in Canada focuses on the economics of domestic mitigation policy, and it is the aim of this program to broaden the debate to include the possible costs of climate impacts and the implications of these for Canada.

The NRTEE has decided to undertake a series of 4-6 ‘bottom-up’ economic impact studies (as opposed to ‘top down’ macroeconomic modelling studies), to illustrate a range of economic risks, while also informing an estimate of the national cost of climate impacts. Throughout the document, we refer to these studies as ‘case studies’.