BCBusiness

PAUL JOSEPH FACTOID In 2015, global investment in renewable power totalled US$367 billion. Fossil fuel power? US$253 billion M erran Smith was the lead "environ- mental architect" of the landmark Great Bear Rainforest conserva- tion agreement, •rst legislated in 2006, which helped ensure the protection of thousands of square kilometres of coastal ecosys- tem stretching from the top of Vancouver Island to the Alaska Panhandle. In 2008 she turned to climate change, founding Clean Ener°y Canada, which conducts research and advocates for government policy to encourage investment in renewable ener°y. Smith was a member of Premier Christy Clark's Climate Lead- ership Team, which included representatives from business, First Nations, academia and politicians. Now she's waiting to see whether the team's ambi- tious set of 32 recommendations, presented to the premier last fall, will be adopted. While studying biology at uVic, you came to live on a boat. Why was that? It was a cheap way to live. It was a boat from the '40s with a mahog- any cabin—and once I started doing it, I loved it. You're always in tune with the tide, the moon, and there's otters and all kinds of sea life that you're in touch with so it was a fantastic lifestyle. I lived on it for 11 years. As an environmentalist, you worked for 11 years with forestry companies and First nations toward reaching a landmark Merran Smith T h e C o n v e r s a t i o n agreement, first legislated in 2006, to protect the Great bear rainforest. What did you learn from that experience? We were in this intense con˜ict with the forestry companies and workers and communities that were going to be impacted, and we had to listen to them. We were coming at it from the science and environmental side, but the answers were economic. We needed retraining dollars for workers, and we needed economic development dollars for First Nations so that they could create businesses and employ their com- munities. What I really learned in the Great Bear was, you need a vision where businesses and com- munities can see that they too can be successful, and a roadmap of how to get there. you were part of the delegation that went to paris last november with prime Minister Trudeau and premier clark. What was that like? Paris was fantastic in that there really was a broad cross section of countries, municipalities and corporations, really calling for governments to take action. I spent a fair amount of time in sessions with the business community, and I was just astounded at the level of commitment to the transition to clean ener°y. Senior leadership from places like Ikea, Walmart, Levi's, Google, Facebook, Apple— all speaking for the business case for transitioning to renewables. This is no longer fringe; this is mainstream. The founder and executive director of Clean Energy Canada discusses her role in the landmark Great Bear Rainforest agreement–and her concerns about the B.C. government's energy priorities by Marcie Good JUNE 2016 BCBusiness 19 iNvestMeNt iN CLeAN eNergY iN 2015* (global rank in brackets) *in billlions of dollars (USD) SOURCE: BLOOMBERG NEW ENERGy FINANCE China (1) $110.5 United States (2) $56.0 Japan (3) $43.6 United Kingdom (4) $23.4 India (5) $10.9 Canada (8) $4.0

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