With G20 countries responsible for 78 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2019 U.N. report, and just 100 companies named by a 2017 report as the source of more than 70 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, the question of how impactful citizens’ personal choices can be is a complex, but common one.
If you ask energy economist Mark Jaccard, a lack of climate progress from government or the private sector isn’t an excuse to avoid taking individual action.
“Now that we have these options that really reduce your emissions, it is really, really weird to see someone driving a gasoline car, or a gasoline pickup truck, and yet, they really care and are frustrated about the inaction on climate,” he said.
To those who say electric vehicles (EV) are too expensive, solutions like purchasing an EV secondhand or with a group of neighbours exist, Jaccard countered, in addition to lower-cost options such as public transit or cycling.
But while more people need to transition to a zero-emission lifestyle, Jaccard takes issue with the “cacophony of agenda-hitching” propelling the narrative that everyone should stop driving cars, stop eating meat, or stop travelling by air.
“While you in your personal life should go ahead and keep pursuing these things, and try to convince your friends, family and neighbours to also do it, it’s really a mistake if you think that that is the only, or the best, strategy to get there,” he said. “If you think about someone’s personal household emissions, through all aspects of their life, they’re 90 per cent determined by what vehicle they drive, and how they heat their interior space.”
Jaccard, a professor and director of Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management who also served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is aiming to help climate-concerned citizens reckon with these realities during the Whistler Institute’s latest Global Perspectives Speaker Series event. The Dec. 9 event will see Jaccard deliver a lecture-style presentation moderated by Mayor Jack Crompton and followed by a question-and-answer session.
The goal of Jaccard’s upcoming talk is “to give people both some hope about how their engagement as citizens and also how their behaviour as consumers can work in harmony to try to increase our chances of action and success on climate,” he told Pique. “There are lots of things to be excited about, [but] huge amounts of work ahead.”
It’s a topic the expert previously addressed in his 2019 book, The Citizen’s Guide To Climate Success: Overcoming Myths That Hinder Progress.
Within its pages, Jaccard also outlined the need to decarbonize our electricity and transportation industries, and highlighted the regulatory policies—for example, the phasing out of coal plants—that must be implemented to slow climate change.
It also touched on citizens’ responsibilities in terms of public engagement. In the context of Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system, that means voting strategically to prevent “climate insincere” politicians from taking power, he said.
The topic is particularly relevant in light of the recent COP26 global climate conference in Scotland, noted Whistler Institute executive director Suki Cheyne. “[It’s timely] to have Mark continue that conversation and take it from the country level, where people are making decisions, and bring it down to the citizen level and what we as individuals can do,” to combat the climate crisis, she said.
“I’m hoping that audience members, [whether] virtual or in-person, will go home with ideas that they can implement in their own lives and feel a bit a little bit more empowered.”
The Whistler Institute’s Global Perspectives Speaker Series “Citizens Climate Emergency—An Action Guide,” event takes place at the Whistler Conference Centre’s Rainbow Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at bit.ly/3qZjZDd ($30 for those attending the theatre in-person, $10 for live-stream access.)
Those interested in continuing the conversation can do so at an Après Event Dinner Experience hosted by Caramba immediately following Jaccard’s talk. Tickets for that portion of the evening are $65 and include a three-course set menu, gratuity and a $26.64 charitable tax receipt.
All audience members attending the talk will be required to present proof of COVID-19 vaccine upon arrival and wear masks throughout the event.
