[greenon-l] Green-On -- January 5, 2004

[Conservation Council of Ontario]

Green On.
The Conservation Council of Ontario's e-newsletter
Please forward to your friends.  To unsubscribe, go to www.greenontario.org

January 5, 2005
Editor:  Chris Winter, Executive Director, The Conservation Council of Ontario



In this issue...
 > A Request for Donations for tsunami relief
 > Canadian NGOs Quick to Respond
 > Emergency Preparedness and Conservation -- the Lesson for Ontario
 > 2004 -- A Year of Progress
 > Our Agenda for 2005
 > Energy Workshops -- Register by January 7.



A Request for Donations
Usually around this time, we send out a fundraising request to all our 
contacts asking them to support conservation in Ontario.  We will delay 
this request this year, in order to make sure that everyone has an 
opportunity to support the relief effort for the survivors of the December 
26 tsunami.  All donations received before January 11th can be claimed on 
your 2004 income tax.

Please visit the CBC's information page 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/asia_earthquake/helping.html for a list 
of organizations that are accepting donations.


Canadian NGOs Quick to Respond
It is with some pride that we can say how quickly Canadian organizations 
have responded to the crisis.  It is also interesting to note how these 
organizations have developed their programs over the years to help prepare 
for emergencies.

The funding office for Oxfam Canada (one of many worthwhile organizations 
on the CBC's list) is one floor above our office at 215 Spadina Ave. in 
Toronto.  Staff came in over the holidays to help process the donations and 
help with the relief effort.  Not only does Oxfam provide aid, they help 
communities prepare for possible future disasters. One of Oxfam Canada's 
key goals over the next five years has been to support disaster 
preparedness programmes in vulnerable communities around the world.  In 
Nicaragua, for example, they have been working with communities in the 
aftermath of Hurricane Mitch to help them prepare for future hurricanes.

Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontieres) is another organization 
of note -- a past recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for their 
efforts.  They provide medical relief in war zones and after environmental 
crises.  Speed is critical to successful intervention following a natural 
disaster.  MSF has tested and stored pre-packaged medical and technical 
kits in its warehouses and is able to immediately dispatch them to 
devastated areas.  An MSF team - currently numbering 40 - has been working 
in the town of Banda Aceh since Tuesday night and is using four mobile 
teams to bring medical care along the coast.

And here's an interesting partnership to note -- the Greenpeace vessel the 
Rainbow Warrior Rainbow Warrior is helping Médecins Sans Frontieres to get 
relief supplies to parts of Indonesia devastated by the Indian Ocean 
earthquake. 
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=700819



Emergency Preparedness and Conservation -- The Lesson for Ontario
If there is a positive side to the devastation it is that there will likely 
be a tsunami warning system set up for the Indian Ocean similar to the 
Pacific Ocean system.  Out of the crisis comes a commitment to make sure a 
similar event in the future will not result in the same loss of life.

Sadly, nothing motivates like a crisis. It was another crisis just over a 
year ago -- the August 14 blackout in 2003 -- that led to a resurgence in 
support for conservation and the creation of the provincial Conservation 
Action Team.  It took the Walkerton E.coli tragedy to wake up the 
government to the dangers of cutbacks in environmental programs.  Looking 
further back, it was Hurricane Hazel in 1954 that led to a stronger role 
for Ontario's conservation authorities in acquiring and protecting 
floodplain lands.  In each case, the crisis led to a long-term commitment 
to prevent any future occurrence of a similar scale.

Ideally, we want to act in advance of a crisis -- "anticipate and prevent" 
is the commonly-used term in eco circles.  While the challenge is always to 
be able to predict what the next crisis will be, the key point to remember 
is that a conserver society is always more resilient to crisis, whether it 
be a catastrophic event, gradual climate change, pollution, or the gradual 
loss of essential resources (such as energy, food, water, or raw materials).

Emergency preparedness and prevention should be among the goals for 
conservation, in particular with respect to how we design our buildings, 
communities, and economy.  Energy efficiency, renewable power, 
conservation, and a diversified energy system will help protect against 
inevitable energy shortages or emergencies.  Efficient urban and building 
design are critical components -- we need to design for scarcity, not for 
abundance.  Investing in local agriculture will help maintain a secure 
regional supply of food.  Greenspace protection, stormwater retention, and 
watershed management is protection against both water shortages and sudden 
storms.  Efficiency and recycling of natural resources braces our economy 
against fluctuations in price and supply.  In short, sustainable 
development is also resilient development.

We also need to develop the depth and coordination within non-governmental 
organizations that will allow us to respond to crises.  When the 2003 
blackout hit, there was an immediate call for emergency conservation 
measures.  However, there was no effective way to reach people with the 
conservation message, outside of repeated calls through the media by our 
political leaders.  A year later, and we still have scant few resources or 
volunteers on the ground.  Ontario needs a strong conservation movement 
with support services and a network of organizations and community networks 
to get the message out to the public.

The Cassandra approach (i.e. fear of shortages and blackouts) may not be 
the way to market conservation, especially in times of prosperity, but 
those who plan Ontario's future should certainly ensure that our 
infrastructure is resilient and that our society can react or adapt to 
future crises.


2004 -- A year of Progress
Much happened on the conservation front in 2004.

The Conservation Council had a busy and productive year.  We have initiated 
a strong working relationship with the provincial government through the 
government-wide Ontario Conserves initiative, the provincial Conservation 
Action Team, and with key ministries (such as Energy, Environment, and 
Public Infrastructure and Renewal).

On November 25, we co-hosted Ontario's Conservation Summit 2004 with the 
provincial government and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.  230 people 
attended and contributed ideas on how we can build a stronger conservation 
movement in Ontario.  For the summit proceedings and final report, please 
see the summit website, http://www.greenontario.org/summit/index.html.

One of our key roles as a "Conservation Council" is to build a stronger 
conservation movement.  To this end, we have provided ongoing support for 
the Ontario Smart Growth Network as a lead organization for coordinating 
efforts to control suburban sprawl and promote compact, livable 
communities.  The OSGN has been awarded a short-term grant of $25,000 from 
the Ontario Trillium Foundation to develop a communications plan and to 
study the feasibility of establishing a Municipal Smart Community 
Accreditation Program (a rating system for municipalities that have opted 
to incorporate principles of smart growth into their plans, community 
designs and individual developments).  For more information on the network, 
see http://www.greenontario.org/smartgrowth/index.html or contact Marty 
Collier at marty.osgn at sympatico.ca.

We have also seen a rise in corporate interest in conservation.  We are 
particularly grateful to The Beer Store for making us their lead community 
partner for environmental issues and for supporting the development of a 
provincial conservation campaign.  Corporate interest in the Conservation 
Summit was strong, and we expect to see some new partnerships between the 
corporate and NGO sectors over the next year.

The provincial government had an ambitious environmental agenda as well for 
2004, which kept many of our members and colleagues active in consultation 
exercises around the Planning Act, the Greenbelt, Places to Grow, the 
provincial gas tax, a Biodiversity Strategy, and energy conservation and 
renewable power.

Most important, the provincial government realizes the important role of 
Ontario's conservation organizations in helping build support for 
conservation and in providing the public with conservation solutions.  We 
look forward to their continued support in 2005.


Our Agenda for 2005
We have an ambitious agenda for 2005.  Building on the 2004 Conservation 
Summit, we will be looking to develop a strong conservation movement in 
Ontario.  Our agenda includes:

 > identifying or establishing coordinating networks for major areas of 
interest
 > fostering collaborations between like-minded organizations and companies 
to assist in marketing and delivering conservation solutions
 > developing community networks and support programs to facilitate local 
action and voluntarism
 > developing special campaigns to promote public involvement in conservation
 > updating the Green Ontario website as a portal to Ontario's conservation 
movement.

To achieve this agenda, we will work with partner organizations to support 
their leadership role and areas of expertise, and we will help set up 
collaborations between organizations that can best deliver results.

Details of the action plan will be posted on the Conservation Summit web 
page by the end of January.



Energy Workshops -- January 18, 2005
Two Workshops, One Location

The Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance's 2005 Energy Conservation Forum 
and Workshop
"Effective DSM implementation for your bottom line!"
AND
Clean Air Foundation's  "Building Partnerships for Energy Conservation"


The Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance and the Clean Air Foundation are 
pleased to bring you two concurrent energy conservation workshops. The 
workshops will be held January 18th at the Liberty Grand on the CNE Grounds 
in Toronto. Participants will register for one event but are free to move 
between workshops as they wish.

Registration is requested by Friday January 7th.

For further information, please see www.climateairconnections.ca or contact 
Stephanie Thorson, Climate Air Connections Coordinator: 
sthorson at cleanairfoundation.org



--------------------------------------
Green On. is a periodic e-newsletter of the Conservation Council of 
Ontario, made possible through the financial assistance of the Ontario 
Trillium Foundation and The Beer Store.
***************************
Promoting conservation leadership, cooperation, and action for over 50 years

The Conservation Council of Ontario
Suite 132, 215 Spadina Ave, Toronto, M5T 2C7
Ph: (416) 533-1635
Fx: (416) 979-3936
www.greenontario.org
Chris Winter, Executive Director
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