Opportunity Not to Ignore

April 2020

CO2 emissions and cumulative totals continue to rise year over year at a rate approaching 3 parts per million. According to climate scientists the safe limit is below 350 ppm while currently floating around in our air-waves we have pushed the level up to 417 ppm, a level not experienced for millions of years. Currently humanity is witnessing consequences directly and indirectly related to these ever increasing levels. Sea levels are rising slowly, inexorably, each year having more and more impact on coastal environments and low lying communities. Extreme weather events occur more frequently. Sea and land temperatures have been on the rise significantly to levels beyond healthy for humanity and wild-life in some parts of the world at specific times of the year. With warmer air more moisture can be held in the atmosphere and significant storms can result leading to more flooding events. In contrast some areas are becoming drier and more in need of irrigation for a variety of crops. Of course it is widely known Arctic, Antarctic, Greenland ice and glaciers are melting at alarming rates. 

In addition to this current broad mix of climate issues is of course the coronavirus pandemic. For the past three months humanity has been making adjustments to contain the virus. Going forward just how the disease and its consequences will play out is uncertain. In the meantime health care is being stretched and economies are accumulating more debt to finance prevention and keep those same economies ticking-over. Once again we were unprepared for this pandemic, but encouragingly our response mostly has been focused and swift. Now we need to transfer some of the lessons learned in the struggle to defeat the pandemic to the much bigger problem over a much longer period of global warming.

After the virus pandemic has been defeated rather than just returning to what was normal before the virus (if indeed returning to a before normal would even be possible) we need to muster more resolve to tackle the worsening consequences of global warming. One outcome of the current situation will be less reliance upon global products and more emphasis upon locally produced product as a hedge against global disruptions. There is opportunity in this change moment. Actively encouraging local producers in all sectors to take on the challenge of producing more of the products and services required in our society will lessen CO2 emissions due to the use of cleaner fuels in production and a dramatic reduction in fuel use associated with less transportation distances. Still too many nations use coal for their electrical power and heating requirements. Transporting goods manufactured by underpaid workers in deplorable health and safety conditions is a recipe for disaster after disaster. The more we outsource to those nations with much lower energy and humanitarian standards the more we fuel the global warming crisis.  

If there is a silver lining to our current predicament, it involves an opportunity to make changes to societal systems and energy production and use to rein in CO2 emission increases. This opportunity is already being pursued coincidentally in the battle against the coronavirus, but for different reasons principally concerning the continued supply of essentials and social distancing. While our response to the pandemic is in early days, already there is evidence of a growing interest in more local production to replace and supply a shortage of essentials. The list of items to be produced will likely grow in part as a hedge against global supply chain disruptions and for a variety of other reasons. Consider the following as more reason to take advantage of this opportunity moment.

More rapid development of renewable energy to power our society and reduce CO2.

Many raw materials are available in Canada - through R&D applied to those raw materials value added would be realized.

With global uncertainty on the rise a more robust Canadian production of essentials would provide more security in the supply of those essentials.

More employment opportunity (jobs) would be created.

Larger percentage of created wealth would remain in Canada.

By spreading production around in different communities big and small benefits of production and wealth creation would be dispersed within Canada

With more production here more product would be available for trade.

With more proximate production, transport costs to market would be lower.

Health and safety is crucial for workers in all sectors and with more Canadian production (less outsourcing) we would have more control over this concern.

Fair wages for work done is ethical and in Canada, although we are not perfect, our rules and regulations tend toward fairness.

Sustainable production practices are crucial in an attempt to guarantee long-term production viability in an efficient manner with minimal waste and CO2 emissions.

Product quality in Canada can be maintained at a high level with the various opportunities for product assessment and verification. 

As has been observed with the global disruption, a more productive environment within Canada in various sectors minimizing outsourcing practices would be in the national interest. 

As Canada and the world emerge from the pandemic the global picture of systems and relationships among nations will be seen to be different. In Canada the energy sector for one will be seen to have suffered a serious body blow from which it may never recover past form and prominence, although with a major shift into renewable energy forms a light will be seen at the end of the tunnel.  We cannot know for certain what the agricultural sector will look like although its importance to Canada will have been well demonstrated. The health sector will have gone through a traumatic experience, but will be recognized for its importance in Canada and no doubt will receive more investment in preparation for the next health crisis. Obviously the financial sector will be emerging from difficult times and government coffers at all levels will be dramatically depleted.

With analysis, vision and preparation at all levels Canada could be in a very good position to climb out of the pit caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The opportunities available to improve our performance and at the same time to tackle the inevitable crises associated with global warming / climate change will exist. We will need determination to take advantage of those opportunities. We can do it.