Canadian Climate Forum aims to stimulate climate change policy, conduct outreach

A new organization to develop policy and disseminate knowledge on climate change is using modest resources raised from donations and other sources to establish an Ottawa-based office and organize a small number of meetings over the next two years. The Canadian Climate Forum (CCF) is emerging from the defunct Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS) and is actively seeking funding partners to develop and expand its activities. Its success will determine whether it's able to resume the CFCAS's role as a funding agency for new research.

The CFCAS was established with $60 million in 2000 and an additional $50 million in 2003 by the former Liberal government but was unable to secure new funding from the Conservative government. It ceased operations at the end of FY11-12. The foundation was responsible for funding research in key areas related to weather and climate change — a function now partially assumed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

"Continuation as a funding agency is not realistic at this time. We examined our options and decided on the forum structure with a mission of science-to-policy translation, the dissemination of information and as a forum for scientists to get together," says Dr Gordon McBean, CCF board chair, former CFCAS board chair and a professor in the geography department at Western Univ. "We will work with our scientific community to prepare science-based policy-relevant — but not prescriptive — papers."

The core membership of CCF has transitioned from the CFCAS and has maintained the same executive director — Dawn Conway. It will have an open membership policy and expects to eventually sign on approximately 100 members. It will seeking input into which issues it will focus on after consulting with government, academia and industry and then assemble the relevant expertise. If new partners come on board, they will have input into CCF's research agenda.

It is embarking on a series of "backgrounder" papers with the aim of converting "evidence and information on innovative practices into options for policies, programs and tools that will benefit Canada's economy and its citizens". Initial thematic priorities include heavy precipitation, floods, drought, the Arctic, zone, permafrost and ocean ice cover, air pollution, climate modeling, the carbon cycle and ocean acidification.

McBean says that with the demise of CFCAS, maintaining Canada's scientific expertise in the area of climate change is of "great concern", despite the government's decision to provide NSERC with $35 million over five years following an impact study of CFCAS by the Science, Technology and Innovation Council (R$, January 25/10 & March 31/11).

"The Forum is uniquely placed to fill growing gaps in the weather and climate information that are so critical to Canada. Its comprehensive and pragmatic approach applies research to societal needs, in order to develop options that will inform decision-making at all levels." — CCF position paper

"Some researchers have left. CFCAS provided half of the research funding in this field and NSERC's funding is one-time," says McBean. "We need evidence and open discourse on climate change science policy because right now Canada has no climate change policy."

activity at provincial level

A new review of climate change legislation in 33 countries by GLOBE International found that Canada was the only nation without such a policy although it noted that "Canadian provinces have been very active in passing their own climate legislation".

McBean says the province's actions are encouraging, pointing to Quebec's OURANOS (Consortium on Regional Climatology and Adaptation to Climate Change), British Columbia's Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium and the Ontario Regional Climate Change Consortium. He's also pleased with the emergence of Dalhousie Univ-based MEOPAR (Marine Environmental, Observation, Prediction and Response Network) — a new Network of Centres of Excellence announced last year with $25 million in funding over five years.

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