The Making Green Energy Happen: Policies and Priorities - 2009

The Making Green Energy Happen: Policies and Priorities workshop will address issues linked to making Ontario’s land base, agriculture and agri-food sector a net producer of renewable energy, without affecting our capacity to produce food. This is a follow up to our previous “Developing Sustainable Energy Policy Workshop: Building Paths to a Low Carbon Society”, hosted by the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management, Richard Ivey School of Business, in October 2006. This workshop will bring together over one hundred participants from business, academia, government, non-government organizations and students who are committed to moving Ontario and Canada forward as a world leader in alternative energy production and conservation.

Energy is a newly added theme in the Growing Forward Framework agreement between Agriculture and Agrifood Canada and Provincial-Territorial-Ministers, June 2007. This five year plan, 2008-2012, aims to assist the sector in becoming more prosperous, competitive and innovative.

The workshop will commence with a reception on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. at the Spencer Leadership Centre in London Ontario, and is by invitation only. Deliberations will begin Monday, April 27th at 8:00 a.m. and will conclude at 6:00 p.m., followed by a buffet dinner.

The Lawrence National Centre is partnering on this initiative with Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, the Ag Energy Cooperative and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

Substantive support is being provided by the Government of Canada through the industry-led Agricultural Adaptation Council. The workshop will focus on the regulatory environment in the agriculture sector, encourage competitiveness, prosperity and jobs. In addition, the workshop is supported by the Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program, where researchers are working with the agriculture and agri-food industry. The goal is to assure a transparent, easily navigable, regulatory environment for the utilization of biomass feed stocks in order to produce green energy, green fuel, technology and products.

Ontario has the potential to emerge as a major player in the cleantech and renewable energy industries, resulting in both a healthier environment and new jobs. The competitive landscape is fierce. In planning this workshop, the Lawrence National Centre endeavours to create a neutral forum where a wide range of experts share their knowledge and perspectives on the regulatory issues, policy options and challenges facing Canada. To ensure that this initiative leads to a relevant and practical workshop report, including recommendations to Governments, the Steering Committee is undertaking consultations to identify the most pressing issues.


Sincerely,

 

Dianne Cunningham
Director, Lawrence Centre