Building a platform for collaboration and climate action

2024 Clean50 members gather for their group picture after a full day of work, and ahead of the award ceremony.Supplied

There are a number of action items that can make an impact on Canada’s overall climate performance, “but we need to do them at scale – and we need to do them faster,” says Gavin Pitchford, CEO of sustainability and cleantech search firm Delta Management Group and founder and executive director of the Canada’s Clean50 Awards program.

“Specifically, we need to stop making things worse by enabling oil companies to pollute with impunity,” he says. “We need to identify the most effective solutions, especially Canadian cleantech, and invest in these growing organizations and in finding new ones. And we need to truly recognize that climate change is the single biggest threat to our economic well-being and act accordingly.”

While post-COVID inflation is an issue for many, “things will get much worse and prices are going to skyrocket if we don’t fix climate change. Most importantly, politicians need get honest and stop placating their base with nonsensical slogans,” says Mr. Pitchford. “Instead, they need to act on the incredible opportunity Canada has: to play a role in delivering solutions and invest in the future economy rather than keep doubling down on a failed resource extraction strategy from 50 years ago that no longer works.”

Hoping to kick-start some of those solutions, Mr. Pitchford founded the Clean50 program in 2011 to identify forward-looking sustainability leaders from across Canada, to recognize and amplify their work, and most importantly, to bring them together so they can identify opportunities to collaborate at scale. Since then, the program has recognized over 900 members and over 200 sustainability projects, and hosted 13 Clean50 summits.

After last year’s summit, within two weeks, 144 participants reported that they had identified – and were working on – over 1,000 collaborations, he says. “Even if some of those collaborations involve three or four players, that’s at least 400 distinct climate projects – some big, some small – but all having an impact.”

Frances Edmonds, head of sustainable impact at HP Canada, two-time Clean50 honouree and frequent summit participant, praises the Clean50 program for its influence. There is recognition at HP Canada, long identified as Canada’s most sustainable technology company, “that we cannot do it alone,” she notes. “Sustainability is a team sport.

“The Clean50 summit regularly connects us with a diverse group of passionate leaders and experts willing to collaborate to amplify our collective impact,” Ms. Edmonds says. “We continuously evolve and learn from our interactions with other professionals as well as share our own expertise, particularly around sustainable procurement, to outline alternative and inspiring ways of doing things – and to make us better at our jobs and how we do business.”

Another recent summit participant and Clean50 honouree, Maya Colombani, chief sustainability and human rights officer at L’Oreal Canada, echoes these sentiments.

“Engaging the full ecosystem across all our value chains, collaborating with our suppliers and competitors, with retailers and consumers, and truly act for our society beyond our logo and individual interests is absolutely critical,” she says. “That’s what it takes to scale up our impact.

“What the Clean 50 community brings is an authentic and interconnected approach, and the best of what our power and expertise can bring to our society,” Ms. Colombani says. “The Clean50 is extremely effective at making those connections and kick-starting those collaborations.”

Mr. Pitchford adds that beyond galvanizing collaboration between sustainability leaders, the Clean50 community also advocates for policy change, for example, most recently, the implementation of a sustainable investment and financing taxonomy. On Earth Day, these efforts, which brought together over 230 members of the Clean50 as well as 160 of their organizations signing on to an open letter, which was endorsed by another 60 individuals and 40 organizations, mostly leaders from the finance community. “The Clean50 channels both collaboration between members and shared calls for meaningful climate action,” he says. “While we’re making a difference, we’re painfully aware of the urgent need to do more – and do it faster.”

Barbara Zvan

The president and CEO at University Pension Plan is globally recognized for bringing institutional expertise to ESG challenges. As a sustainable finance leader, she forges collaborative pathways for innovation and advises government on the financial sector’s role in advancing Canada’s net-zero objectives. She was named “CEO and Corporate Citizen of the Year 2022″ by the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

Roger Beauchemin

Addenda Capital, under the leadership of its president and CEO, launched Canada’s first Impact Fixed Income Fund offering a portfolio of domestic bonds deployed in sustainability, health care, education and communities, so pensions and endowments can align investments with their values, missions and grants. A multi-asset investment firm that integrates ESG analysis into all decision-making, Addenda manages over $35-billion and deployed over $5-billion in impact investments.

Senator Rosa Galvez

The honourable senator and engineering professor at Laval University bridges the communication gap between scientists and government decision-makers through leadership on climate change. Having led research on the Lac-Mégantic oil spill with a lens on engineering solutions, she advocates for stronger environmental legislation, including reforms to how we assess major infrastructure projects.

Cindy Bailey

Since 2021, Purolator’s corporate sustainability officer worked with stakeholders to achieve significant progress towards the goal to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42 per cent by 2030, electrify 60 per cent of last-mile delivery vehicles, use 100 per cent renewable electricity in operations, and divert over 70 per cent of non-hazardous waste from landfill. She also led the development of science-based targets and introduced a public-facing sustainability strategy.

Maya Colombani

Revolutionizing beauty is no small feat, but the chief sustainability and human rights officer at L’Oréal Canada and her team propelled L’Oréal to promote refillable products and reinforce an EcoDesign approach across 97 per cent of the brand’s portfolio. Outcomes of a three-pronged approach – tackling transparency, accelerating the implementation of innovative products and packaging, and circularity – include a boost to customer retention by 10 per cent.

Ash Modha

The president and CEO of Mondetta Inc. facilitated a shift from using virgin materials to recycled fibres in each new collection launched since 2021, with efforts resulting in over 8,000 tonnes of recycled materials and over 1,200 tonnes of sustainable materials used in garments. The commitment to reach net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2028 is based on robust data calculations for all operational emissions. Mondetta earned the B Corp distinction.

Emily Mcmillan

Leading the organization’s vision to “discover, defend and restore nature,” Nature Canada’s executive director has effectively collaborated with 800 different groups. Endeavours include the Nature Network, NatureBus tours, engaging BIPOC youth in NatureHood programs, creating jobs through Work to Grow, connecting communities, schools and individuals with nature, and advocating for a comprehensive federal biodiversity action plan.

Louie Porta

Among the wide swath of ocean conservation initiatives spearheaded by the executive director, Oceans North, are a historic investment of $800-million in Indigenous-led conservation projects, opposition to a mining expansion impacting narwhal populations, securing fishery closures for deep-sea ecosystems of the Eastern Canyons Marine Refuge, and advocating for science and evidence-based fisheries policies.

Naolo Charles

The social entrepreneur and director of the Black Environmental Initiative works to elevate environmental engagement within Canada’s Black communities and push the environmental sector to confront anti-Black racism. His efforts to boost Black community participation in environmental dialogues include helping organize the first Canadian Black youth delegation to COP26 and promoting the adoption of Canada’s first environmental justice bill.

Mohammad Doostmohammadi

The founder and CEO of pH7 Technologies Inc. and his team have created an innovative process for extracting and refining critical metals, including Platinum Group Metals (PGM), that will enable the transition to renewable energy in an environmentally and economically sustainable way. pH7′s closed-loop process applies organic, inorganic and electrochemistry to reduce the environmental impact related to mining critical metals and mineral processes.

Carter Li

The CEO of SWTCH Energy Inc. works to provide EV drivers living in North America’s multi-unit residential buildings, of whom there will be over five million by 2030, access to charging infrastructure. To date, SWTCH has deployed over 7,150 charging stations at over 1,150 high-density buildings, resulting in over 5,781 tonnes of GHG emission reductions, tackling one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption.

Geri Yin

Increasing electrification of transportation and building heating poses challenges for Ontario’s energy systems, and the head of Grid Innovation at Alectra Utilities led a team pioneering innovative solutions, including a local electricity market pilot, where Alectra served as distribution system operator, and a Power.House Hybrid pilot designed to advance net-zero energy emission homes through integrating hybrid electric/thermal technologies.

Advertising feature produced by Randall Anthony Communications with Canada’s Clean50. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved

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