Public Lecture by Prof. Rowlands

Title: National Aspiration and Provincial Implementation: Canada’s Climate Goals and Ontario’s Local Electricity Prospects

Friday, October 18, 2024, 14:00 s.t., 
Herder Building, R400, 
Tennenbacher Str. 4, 
79106 Freiburg

Abstract: In this talk, Prof. Rowlands will briefly introduce the Canadian governance, policy, and politics landscape on climate and energy issues, within the context of a national commitment to achieve ‘net-zero greenhouse gas emissions’ by 2050. He will then focus upon one way in which one part of Canada is trying to reduce emissions – namely, the Province of Ontario’s efforts to restart community-level sustainable energy infrastructure projects (e.g., pumped hydro, wind turbines, and energy storage) after a five year hiatus. Prospects for success – and potential for cross-national comparisons – are also presented.

Biography: Ian Rowlands is a Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo (Canada). Rowlands has research, teaching, and community interests in energy transitions and management strategies; global, national, and local climate change governance; international education; internationalisation more broadly; and strategic planning. Rowlands is keen to place his current ‘local work’ on energy transitions – which focuses upon his home province of Ontario’s efforts to grow its (fairly) clean electricity grid to power new energy services in inclusive, efficient, and environmentally-sound ways – within broader comparative and international frameworks.

This event is co-organized by the Institute of Environmental Social Science and Geography, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Center for Renewable Energy (ZEE) of the University of Freiburg.