Archives
Santa’s Canadian – And He Loves Milk and Danish
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on December 17, 2014
Everyone knows that Santa Claus is Canadian. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander issued Santa Canadian citizenship last year, and...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
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New studies show cities are key to driving economic growth and fighting climate change
Posted by Guest Author on November 26, 2014
How cities develop will be critical to achieving economic growth and tackling climate change, according to a series of studies released this week...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
New Climate Normal: World Bank study reveals the unavoidable impacts of climate change
Posted by Guest Author on November 24, 2014
According to a new scientific study by the World Bank Group, as planet temperatures rise, heat-waves and other weather extremes that occur rarely,...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Now it gets Interesting – Time to call on Canada’s Cities
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on November 13, 2014
There was much fanfare this week as the US and China signed a climate agreement. The two countries are the world’s largest energy users and...
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Canada’s Remembrance – A View from the City
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on November 11, 2014
This year on the 100th Anniversary of the start of First World War, it is worth thinking about Canada’s soldiers. Where did they come from...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Saving the world’s wildlife: Starting at a city near you
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on October 07, 2014
He hath eaten me out of house and home (Shakespeare, Henry IV Part II). The recent Living Planet report by WWF and the London Zoological Society...
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Should mayors rule the world? They already do.
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on September 30, 2014
Working at the World Bank makes you think ministers of finance rule the world. Sure, heads of state make all the speeches at places like the UN,...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
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Ontario’s place in an urbanizing world
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on September 29, 2014
A response to Lieutenant Governor Dowdeswell’s call for a discussion on Ontario’s priorities. Ontario is home to one of North...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
World leaders announce significant commitments to climate change at UN Summit
Posted by Guest Author on September 24, 2014
More than 100 heads of state and government were joined by more than 800 business, finance and civil leaders in New York on Tuesday for the UN...
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Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide participate in climate march
Posted by Guest Author on September 22, 2014
From Manhattan to Melbourne, more than half a million people across the planet took to the streets on Sunday to demand action from world leaders in...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
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The first challenge we must face in our energy future is energy storage
Posted by Eddie Sheng on September 17, 2014
It’s been said that electricity is the most valuable form of energy. In fact, the modern world wouldn’t function, let alone exist,...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
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Capturing the power of water
Posted by Nandine Kanesalingam on September 15, 2014
For thousands of years, people around the world have been capturing the power of moving water to create mechanical or electrical power for grinding...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
Is natural gas a sustainable option?
Posted by Christopher Yee Chuin Koon on September 11, 2014
With a surging global population, the world’s energy needs are going to continue to grow. Fossil fuels meet a vast majority of the...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
Are fossil fuels dead? A look at the rising use of natural gas in North America
Posted by Jason Runge on September 10, 2014
As the Earth’s climate continues to rise, governments around the world have introduced policies to reduce both their greenhouse gas emissions...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
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Cities set to embark on third wave of urbanization
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on September 09, 2014
Around 5000 years ago, the first cities emerged in Mesopotamia and the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Agricultural surpluses...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
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Breaking Our Dependency on Fossil Fuels
Posted by Dakota Watson on August 29, 2014
Fossil fuels are the remains of prehistoric biological matter that have been subjected to millennia of geological processes (i.e. heat and...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
How Geothermal Energy Works
Posted by Jonathan Allcock on August 28, 2014
The amount of heat within 10,000 metres (about 33,000 feet) of the Earth's surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
North America Falling Behind in Wind Power Market Penetration and Integration
Posted by Raymond Bedard on August 25, 2014
Skeptics often boast that as an energy source, wind power can’t effectively meet a significant proportion of national energy demand, with...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
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Should Energy from Waste be Considered Renewable?
Posted by Student Blogger on August 21, 2014
There is much debate as to whether Energy from Waste (EFW) should be considered a renewable energy source. According to the Environmental...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
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Ontario universities make significant strides towards greening their campuses: COU Report
Posted by Michelle Cholak on August 19, 2014
The Council of Ontario Universities’ (COU) released their fifth annual report last week on their sustainability initiatives taking place...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
A League of their Own: Cities Working Together for a Better World
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on August 18, 2014
In 1845 Alexander Cartwright, a Brooklyn shipping clerk, drew up a formal set of rules and established the Knickerbockers Baseball Club. Before...
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SustainableJoes' #RETHINK Tour Visits UOIT
Posted by Mehdi Hosseini on August 13, 2014
SustainableJoes founder Stephen Szucs is traveling via a solar and pedal powered tricycle from Canada to Key West to ask individuals, communities,...
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If Sustainability was the Game – Leafs Win the Stanley Cup
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on August 12, 2014
The National Hockey League recently released what is probably the most comprehensive sustainability report ever prepared by a professional sports...
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Shooting for the Moon – From a City Near You
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on August 07, 2014
From 1942 to 1946 more than 100,000 scientists, engineers, military strategists, factory workers and financiers came together at a cost of $2...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
A New Climate for Ontario
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on July 02, 2014
Crystal balls are notoriously unreliable. Climate modelling is almost as challenging. But there are a few inexorable and inevitable trends already...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Hillary Clinton’s Thoughts on Energy
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on June 24, 2014
Peter Mansbridge interviewed Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. Secretary of State, recently while she was in Toronto selling her new book. At the...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Nuclear Power and its Potential in Low-Income Regions
Posted by Kazi Nasir on June 20, 2014
Nuclear power is considered to be an essential energy source of the future – it now accounts for 6% of the world’s total energy...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
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Solar Energy Around the World
Posted by Nichollas Saucedo on June 20, 2014
A renewable and clean source of energy, the solar power generated by the sun provides the earth with more than one thousand times the energy...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
Insights on Climate Change Study
Posted by Mehdi Hosseini on June 17, 2014
Cities consume most of the world’s energy, so they release the greatest amount of global carbon emissions. They are also the primary...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
The Economic Fallout of Ontario’s Long Term Energy Plan
Posted by Kazi Nasir on April 11, 2014
In December 2013, Ontario’s Ministry of Energy released its updated Long Term Energy Plan (LTEP), “Achieving Balance”. As the...
Filed under: Students on Sustainability
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Why a City's Not a Duck
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on March 21, 2014
Up north on the lake, every year near our cabin, we see a pair of nesting ducks. We call her Mrs. Merganser as she leads her 8 to 16 ducklings...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Hydro Power - Building Better Cities
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on March 20, 2014
Often I can hide it – posing maybe as an economist, risk manager, a finance-guy, public-policy wonk; I’ve even once been complimented...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Socioeconomic Pathways and Regional Distribution of the World’s 101 Largest Cities
Posted by Mehdi Hosseini on January 28, 2014
Regional trends in population, urbanization, resource availability and scarcity, as well as economic growth and decline are often best observed in...
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Why Running a City is Like Paddling a Canoe?
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on January 24, 2014
Canadians are supposed to be good in a few things: skating, painting trees and rocks, welcoming newcomers, writing engaging stories that surely...
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The Old Man is Snoring
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on January 23, 2014
‘It’s raining, it’s pouring. The old man is snoring.’ Truth be told, I apparently snore, and I suppose I’m not that...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
Peak Waste and Poverty – A Powerful Paradox
Posted by Daniel Hoornweg on January 23, 2014
Urbanization is the most powerful force shaping the planet today. This can be good news as urbanization is the best bet we have to meet our global...
Filed under: Sustainability 101
