York Region Leaders Gather Around Climate Change

On November 8, 2018, ClimateWise Business Network held their second annual York Region Leaders' Sustainability Forum at the Markham Museum. The Forum brought together business professionals from across the Region to network and share perspectives on emerging sustainability trends.

Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe was the keynote speaker at the event. Dr. Saxe spoke about the state of climate action in Ontario. She acknowledged that in 2016, the province's GHG emissions dropped to its lowest level since 1990 while the GDP grew to its highest level. The Commissioner urged the new provincial government not to backtrack from climate action as the province is still warming faster than the global average. The changing climate has financial and health implications such as uninsurable property damage and an increased risk of Lyme disease.

The final action of the evening was an interactive panel discussion on organizational best practices in sustainability. The panel was moderated by Graham Seaman, the director of Sustainability and Asset Management at the City of Markham. The panelists were Andrew Stewart (Compugen Inc), Julia St. Michael (Enwave Energy Corp.) and Louise Rubletz (Canadian Manufactures & Exporters) – senior leaders at their respective organizations. We are proud to acknowledge that the City of Markham and Compugen Inc are active members of ClimateWise.

Harry and Kirthan would like to thank everyone that attended. It was great to interact with familiar and new faces. You contributed to making the event a success. We could not have done it without the support of our Windfall team, volunteers and sponsors. We hope to see you at our next major event – the third annual Evening of Recognition on Thursday, May 30, 2019.