Something’s happening. For the first time in a national election, Canada’s political parties have all agreed to address the risks of climate warming.
The parties don’t agree on what needs to be done; only that something needs to be done.
This cross-party consensus, of sorts, is progress. If nothing else, it tells us that worries about climate are registering with elected leaders. A sure sign of strong public concern for an issue is when politicians of all stripes line up to promise action on it.
Voters who go into polling booths are also shoppers who go into stores. Voters are also customers. If their climate concerns are strong enough to register with politicians their climate concerns should also be registering with businesses.
All those who want to meet the climate challenge represent a potentially large market. The bells of opportunity are ringing. Does your business hear them?
So many business leaders can see the market opportunity. They just don’t have the knowledge, data or support they need to seize it.
Do Canada’s political leaders see the opportunity? My concern is that none of the political parties grasp the critical knowledge gap that is holding us back.
Managing energy is at the heart of addressing climate change. Burning fuels produce C0₂, the atmospheric gas that is trapping the earth’s heat from being radiated out into space. Acting on climate means reducing CO₂ emissions from energy use.
Our business leaders need effective and comprehensive energy-carbon management skills. Without those skills, Canadian businesses cannot produce low-carbon products and services. Consumers can’t have the low carbon market choices they are looking for. Climate targets can’t be met. Political promises can’t be kept.
Good energy and carbon management are learned. Successful Canadian companies have mastered these skills. They are showing the way. We know this can be done.
My message is simple. Whomever forms the next government must fund and deploy carbon management skills as widely as possible. Provide thousands of businesses, large and small in our country, with energy information and knowledge to reduce carbon. Help them acquire the tools to implement the needed low-carbon transition.
Something is happening here. A tentative, multi-partisan commitment to climate action is in the cards – a first for Canada. I’m excited by the opportunity, tempered by a somber reality. Canada has a carbon management capacity problem that is holding us back.
We at 360 Energy will do all we can, with whomever is elected our government on September 20, to help Canada deploy these skills as far as we possibly can.
That’s my personal election promise. The economic opportunity is just too great for our country to drop the ball.
