Corporate Knights Fall 2023

At TELUS, we have a long-standing commitment to addressing the impacts of climate change. For over two decades, we’ve led the way in sustainability reporting, investing in renewable energy, offering sustainable finance and executing the largest number of power purchase agreements in Canada. Recently, we planted our one millionth tree, effectively offsetting all of our paper use and removing carbon from the atmosphere. “Integrating sustainability into business strategies globally is a challenge as expectations rise for cost-effective, credible programs with rigorous reporting. At TELUS, we have a consistent vision with ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and science-based climate targets. Now, we’re also turning our focus to technology-enabled nature-based climate solutions such as AI/GIS-integrated tree planting. Our approach is to partner with nature-focused technology innovators, science and research organizations…

Nitty grid-y [Ralph Torrie’s article “Microgrids Should Be the Future of Electricity. Let’s Fund Them”] makes a great point, and I am an avid supporter of the implementation of microgrids. You may wish to add that changes are required in legal, economic and institutional frameworks to allow microgrids on the grid and, potentially, the ability for non-utility-owned microgrids. There are some jurisdictions that are leading the way, and I encourage others to develop their own platform for efficient energy storage and sharing. Advances in battery technologies will be key for renewable-based microgrids. Community developers can also capitalize by masterplanning communities with nested microgrids – for the individual and for the community. –Varun Khanna, Clean Energy 4 Africa Toronto, ON, via Linkedin CK: Thanks, Varun. Your points are well taken. Who…

The chief executive of a large insurance company recently asked me what the best way would be to catalyze his sector to rise to the climate challenge (meaning align their insurance policies to support climate action as well as their general account investments). Would it be to lead by example – show a measured and steady path to net-zero by 2050 with meaningful interim targets, something the rest of the industry could relate to – or a more radical all-in approach that might be difficult for other peers to identify with? This slow and steady approach is the usual path taken by immense corporations, but with signs of climate breakdown in the acrid smoke-filled air, this path leads directly to the “gates of hell,” as the UN Secretary-General told world…

California is famous for many things, but lately it has become a poster child for climate disasters. From its vanishing beaches and surging wildfires to the floods and droughts of its Central Valley, the Golden State has some of the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems. Which helps explain why the state so often sets the standard for U.S. climate policies. This fall, California moved even further out in front. It may be one of 50 states, but its US$3.6-trillion gross domestic product makes it the world’s fifth-largest economy. So when the California State Assembly approved the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty on September 1, it became the largest economic entity to commit to ending the destructive reign of coal, oil and gas. A glaring improvement on the 2015 Paris…

It’s been two years since the International Energy Agency published its groundbreaking Net Zero by 2050 report, and a lot has happened. Economies have rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic, investment has continued to flow to fossil fuels, and “stubbornly high” emissions have persisted. But an important silver lining – in the form of “extraordinary growth” in clean energy technologies – is keeping hope alive when it comes to climate targets. “The pathway to 1.5°C has narrowed in the past two years, but clean energy technologies are keeping it open,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol in a release summarizing a 227-page update to the Net Zero report. “In the updated net zero scenario, a huge policy-driven ramping up of clean energy capacity drives fossil fuel demand 25% lower by 2030,…

Last February, four student activists at Manhattan’s New York University got the meeting they’d been waiting for: a chance to tell the school’s board of trustees why the university should divest the fossil fuel stocks in its US$5-billion endowment. Their chances were slim: NYU had resisted divestment for two decades and refused even to disclose what investments they owned. The leaders of Sunrise NYU left nothing to chance: they printed their arguments on spiral-bound documents, one student ordered a new outfit for the occasion, and another bought his first tie. The student leaders waited months for a response. Finally, the news came in August via a letter from board chair William Berkley, a 77-year-old insurance billionaire. NYU, he said, has no direct ownership of companies engaged in fossil fuel extraction…