As the planning gets underway for the renewal of the economic strategy for HRM I have heard talk that it may include a focus on development of a Green Economic Development Strategy. I think that this is important for the Greater Halifax Partnership and our business community. There are some pretty cool strategies out there, Toronto has one http://www.toronto.ca/business/green-economic-development.htm and so does Vancouver http://www.vancouvereconomic.com/page/green-economic-development and congratulations to both cities for moving these forward. Halifax needs to show leadership as the economic hub of Atlantic Canada and set the pace in developing a focus on sustainability and green economic development.
In two weeks
we will have the opportunity to build our knowledge in sustainable economic
development through our work within the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP) www.energycities.org. The WECP is an organization which Halifax has belonged to for almost a
decade. The WECP is led by the Mayor’s
of 15 of the world’s leading energy producing cities. On February 15, Stavanger Norway is hosting
the first Academic Exchange between energy cities and their respective academic
institutions. The Greater Halifax
Partnership will be attending along with the College of Sustainability at
Dalhousie University – who better to have involved!
The WECP has been mainly a route to partnerships in petroleum-related activities. All the energy cities however are now meeting new challenges related to the environment, changes in the petroleum sector and the need to develop sustainable ways of producing and using energy.
We need to
begin to think about a culture where we work to retain, grow and attract companies
with green and sustainable philosophies. Being focused on green and sustainable strategies may be the
differentiator that will set us apart from all the competition out in the
marketplace. Many companies large and
small want to do business with businesses and communities that are green and
sustainable – the Walmart’s of the world have a lot of influence on suppliers
to change their habits.
Halifax has a lot to offer and a unique offering – some of our companies are leading in the creation of renewable energies – such as Emera and Ocean Nutrition. As well, HRM is striving to be one of the greenest municipalities in Canada.
As the economic
development organization that connects all players together including business,
government and education, we have a responsibility to ensure that we begin to
build a plan now for a sustainable future economy. As the economic hub of Atlantic Canada we
need to lead the way and be at the forefront of this challenge!
Nancy Phillips is the Director, Investment and Trade, for the Greater Halifax Partnership and Executive Director for the Halifax Gateway Council.
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