Highlights from Phase I report:

Here are some highlights to expect in our Phase I report, “What the federal government should do to remove barriers to innovation and change, and lead Canada to a sustainable society":

• Canada already has all the technology needed to reduce greenhouse gases by 60% within two decades.
  


• What's stopping us from deploying these technologies are deep rooted institutional, legal, regulatory and economic barriers, such as lack of standards and proper metrics, inadequate financial instruments to pay for energy conserving measures, restricted leasing contracts and an insufficient supply of skilled labour.
  


• Some 100 such barriers to innovation and change for sustainability have been identified, e.g:
  


• The federal government should start by setting a compelling example. For instance, a federal government department can be disinclined to implement energy conserving measures because it is a tenant and not the owner of the building it inhabits. The divergent interests of landlord and tenant are a barrier to action that can be overcome by a new leasing arrangement between the department and the agency that acts as its landlord.
  


• While Canadian homes should all be energy efficient, it would require a million trained contractors to retrofit all existing housing units in Canada for energy efficiency. There are no provisions currently to train or certify this number of building contractors.
  
  
• Many of these can be addressed by stronger collaboration among governments and better ways of measuring our progress

• The report calls on the federal government to take on a role of leadership by example, by facilitation and by direction.
  

Stay tuned for the complete report on-line by September 3, 2009