By Elizabeth, Mike, David, and Brent

It’s been a busy six months for The Low Carbon Partnership, and we wanted to update you on our progress.

As you may recall, we came together last spring to help Canadian businesses drive clean growth, reduce carbon emissions, and foster a prosperous, green, and healthy future.

We knew that companies and communities across the country need help cutting emissions, and we wanted to equip them with resources, expertise, and tools to innovate and compete.

The idea attracted a lot of attention—and a thumbs-up from a mix of financial institutions, energy companies, local and provincial government leaders, small business owners, and environmental organizations. We are so grateful to all who endorsed the Low Carbon Partnership when we were still trying to figure out how the photocopier worked!

Fast forward six months. We’ve done the legwork of coalition building, and figured out how best to combine our strengths—namely, proven programs that are already working—and leverage our networks to really turn up the pace of change. After crunching the numbers, and assuming we are able to secure the needed resources, here’s what we feel we can accomplish by 2020:

• REDUCE carbon emissions 500,000 tonnes
• SAVE businesses $150 million
• ENGAGE AND INSPIRE at least 4,000 businesses and 300 communities

The great news is the in the wake of December’s Pan Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, the Report of the Standing Committee on Finance included a recommendation that suggests that our goals are closely aligned with federal priorities:

RECOMMENDATION 71 That the Government of Canada engage, support and bring together Canadian businesses and organizations to find innovative solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We stand ready to help businesses, so they can help Canada. To this end, we’re seeking federal support to help us deliver on our objectives. Wish us luck, and thank you again for being a part of our story to date.

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Brent Gilmour is the executive director of QUEST, David Hughes is the president and CEO of The Natural Step Canada, Mike Morrice is the executive director of Sustainability CoLab, and Elizabeth Sheehan is the president of Climate Smart Business. For more info please visit lowcarbonpartnership.ca