With 80 per cent of the world’s emissions attributed to cities and business leadership needed to reduce those emissions, the Vancouver Economic Commission accepted the invites for it to participate in COP21. The event in Paris is an unprecedented opportunity for city centres and businesses to share learnings and strengthen the relationships needed to turn the enormous challenge of climate change into an enormous opportunity to transform and grow our economy.
The demand for Vancouver’s attendance was high given its environmental leadership and success in recent years.
- Our City has pledged to be 100 per cent renewable by 2050, and advanced towards becoming the greenest city in the world by 2020 while continuing to grow and strengthen our economy.
- The Green Economy now employs an estimated 1 in 20 Vancouverites and generated $1.9 billion in revenue in 2014.
- The City’s overall economy, shown to be one of the most resilient in North America, is projected to be the fastest-growing in Canada for the next five years.
The VEC has contributed to that growth in its role in growing the Green Economy, and as a 21st century business convener. Over the next few days, we pair Vancouver’s green solution providers in Paris with opportunities to grow their businesses through B2B interactions. Through participating in forums and organizing events, we are also pulling those local businesses together to amplify their collective voice and promote our City as the place for green business.
A closer look at our key events for those attending:
Vancouver’s Green Economy – December 5, 14:00–16:00 Paris (05:00–07:00 Vancouver)
The VEC and ICLEI will host a workshop and roundtable discussion on strategic and data-drive approaches to growing the economy. Our speakers will share data on the programs and policies that facilitated the growth of the green sector and discuss Vancouver’s assets as a city on the path to a renewable future.
Find out more here: https://www.picatic.com/vancouvergreeneconomy
ICLEI’s blog post: http://talkofthecities.iclei.org/blog/the-vancouver-economic-commission-vec-presents-data-driven-strategies-to-grow-the-green-economy/
World Climate Summit – December 6, 14:00–16:00 Paris (05:00–07:00Vancouver)
Ian G. McKay, our CEO, is one of the panelists on the live-streamed Plenary III on sustainable development. He will discuss how cities and businesses can work in partnership to develop solutions to climate change.
Find out more here: http://cop21.org/session/plenary-iii-solutions and stream it here: http://www.cop21.org
