Montreal Summit of Innovation 2015

5th Edition: Climate Change
Cities, People and Prosperity 

Monday, November 30, 2015

In conjunction with this 2015 Climate Change Conference that is presently taking place in Paris, the Montreal's Summit on Innovation had equally addressed  the climate change issues this year.

The Montreal's summit called to action to envision ways of mitigating and adapting to climate change. It endeavoured to open new solutions for cities and its inhabitants to enjoy well-being and prosperity for the future to come. The Climate (of) Change Summit presented leading academics, policy makers and scientists and heard their overviews on the anticipated impacts of the global climate change, specifically the impacts on Montreal and Quebec. Several presentations were by experts on best practices in risk management and investment strategies. In addition, as a response to climate change, the summit brought into focus new directions in city planning, examples of innovative business, and also social and technological initiatives.

The following topics were presented and discussed in depth:

The urgency and the cost related to climate change
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University

Future Earth: Collaborative science for sustainable development
Paul Shrivastava, Executive Director, Future Earth

Countdown to 2 degrees
Damon Matthews, Associate Professor and Concordia University Research Chair (Climate Science and Sustainability), Concordia University

Anticipated impacts of climate change on Montréal and Quebec
Alain Bourque, Executive Director Ouranos 

The vulnerability of cities
Alan Mitchell, Executive Director,Cities Global Center of Excellence KPMG LLP

Green infrastructure: Making Montréal more resilient in the face of climate change
Dr. Jean-Patrick Toussaint, Science Project Manager, David Suzuki Foundation 
and
Jérôme Dupras, Professor, Department of Natural Sciences Université du Québec en Outaouais 

Genomics for an urban environment better adapted to climate change
Marc LePage, President and CEO Génome Québec

Designing resilient cities and communities
Polly Turton, Associate (MIEMA CEnv) Arup UK

Future of solar power
Andreas K. Athienitis, Professor, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering Concordia University

Low climate impact urban growth
Christian Savard, Executive Director, Vivre en ville 

Long term strategies for real estate today
Natalie Voland, President, Gestion immobilière Quo Vadis 

Building the solutions economy
Stephen Huddart, President and CEO, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation

Collaborative mobility and carsharing: citizen choices and challenges for cities
Marco Viviani, Director, Development and Public Relations Communauto 

Between climate change and public health: the necessary move to a true clean tech economy
Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner, Cycle Capital Management

Responsible finance and investing
Karen Clarke-Whistler, Chief Environment Officer, TD Bank Group

The first half of the day focused on various climate change issues and how to address them. In the afternoon, some concrete paths of action were proposed. Over 400 delegates participated in the day conference presentations series.

The summit culminated in the evening with a conference-lecture given by David Suzuki as part of the Bell International Leaders Series. The audience was huge, at least three times or even larger than the number of the day participants.

SETTING THE REAL BOTTOM LINE
David Suzuki
Geneticist, broadcaster, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation 




Among climate change and other environment issues, David Suzuki specifically stressed the importance of creating a legislature to protect the right to live in a clean environment: "Recognition in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the highest law in our country — is the final step toward protecting the right to clean air, fresh water and safe food for all Canadians."

David Suzuki founded the Blue Dot Movement to do exactly that - to advocate the clean environment across the country and to inspire people and communities to establish and sign a Declaration for Clean Environment at their municipalities. Visit the David Suzuki Foundation website if you would like to find out about or join the Blue Dot Movement.