If investment-related dispute settlement mechanisms at the international level were to be built anew, what should they look like? That question was the focus of an interactive expert meeting hosted by IISD, on October 17 and 18, 2014, in Montreux, Switzerland. 

The meeting gathered a diverse group of over 20 experts, including academics, government officials and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The group’s expertise ranged from diplomacy, economics and law, to the fields of investment, human rights and trade. The experts agreed that the status quo of international investment-related dispute settlement was unsatisfactory, and there was much room for reform and new thinking. At the meeting, they explored alternative models for settling investment disputes at the international level to supplement or replace existing mechanisms.

In 2012 the Government of Manitoba released its environment plan, TomorrowNow. Its commitments include creating  a green economy action plan and updating the climate change plan for the Province of Manitoba. In efforts to meet these commitments, the International Institute for Sustainable Development assisted the province in developing its innovative green economy action plan as well as updating its climate change plan to address the need to transition to a green economy and low-carbon development framework for Manitoba. The work was carried out through a series of dialogue sessions with key stakeholders on climate change and the green economy. This background paper provides information to the public about Manitoba’s civil society and their importance for the province to address climate change and strengthen its green economy.

One of the fundamental insights of the Watershed-Bioeconomy research is that phosphorus, the nutrient responsible for fouling Lake Winnipeg and other aquatic ecosystems, is also a scarce and valuable natural resource that is critical to agricultural production and global food security.

Previous IISD research introduced the concept of harvesting “ecological biomass”—primarily a large aquatic plant species cattail (Typha spp.) —for watershed nutrient management and biomass for industry. Harvesting the cattail removes the nutrients (i.e., phosphorus) that are taken up during growth and stored within the harvested plant material. This biomass can then be utilized as a solid fuel for bioenergy, biocarbon and higher-value biofuels and bioproducts.

Current work moves these research concepts to pilot and commercial-scale applications. Cattail and other ecological biomass species are harvested on marginal agricultural land—in stormwater ditches and from shallow water retention storage sites, areas that naturally concentrate nutrients from runoff water. Two years of commercial pilot harvests were conducted at Pelly’s Lake near Holland, Manitoba, in the LaSalle Redboine Conservation District. Cattail harvest research in 2013 focused on optimizing methods, logistics and equipment for cutting, baling and collection. Solid fuel products were produced from harvested cattail biomass and mixed with wheat straw for a high-value solid fuel product, which was used in biomass stoker boiler systems for heat production. Cattail was also assessed as a feedstock for biocarbon or biochar. A comparison of cattail biochar was conducted to wheat straw biochar, evaluating energy content and various parameters from production. Cattail ash from solid fuel combustion trials and cattail biochar were analyzed for agricultural and soil values, and preliminary testing was performed on cattail biochar as an activated carbon medium for water filtration.

IISDs research on innovative watershed management solutions has proven that cattail is a sustainable and renewable source of biomass that provides multiple environmental and economic co-benefits when harvested as part of a nutrient and water retention management strategy. The difficult challenge of reducing non-point nutrient loading to Lake Winnipeg can be addressed, while providing economic revenue within a watershed-based bioeconomy.

In 2012 the Government of Manitoba released its environment plan, TomorrowNow.

Its commitments include creating  a green economy action plan and updating the climate change plan for the Province of Manitoba. In efforts to meet these commitments, the International Institute for Sustainable Development assisted the province in developing its innovative green economy action plan as well as updating its climate change plan to address the need to transition to a green economy and low-carbon development framework for Manitoba. The work was carried out through a series of dialogue sessions with key stakeholders on climate change and the green economy. This background paper provides information to the public about Manitoba’s larger emitters and mandatory reporting to help address climate change in the province and strengthen the its green economy.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has explored the harvesting of cattail (Typha spp.) as a component of watershed nutrient-management to capture and remove phosphorus, and the use of the harvested biomass as a sustainable renewable biomass feedstock for energy and bioproducts.

Previous IISD research in the Netley-Libau Nutrient-Bioenergy project performed harvesting and processing on a smaller scale to determine potential for phosphorus (P) capture and use of the biomass for energy. IISD, in collaboration with the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), began cattail harvest trials in 2012 using commercial-scale equipment on cattail stands growing in wet and low-lying areas. Cattails were cut and harvested in the ditches along Highway #1 and at Pelly’s Lake using commercially available grain and forage equipment, a wetland area near Holland, Manitoba. Cattails were cut and windrowed at both locations using a windrower swather from MacDon Industries Ltd., a cooperating partner in the project. A medium square baler was used to collect the cattails from the ditches, and round balers were used to collect the cattails from Pelly’s Lake. The conditions at the specific sites dictated the type of baler required.

The growing season during which the cattails were harvested had below-normal precipitation, which made cutting the cattails with commercial grain harvesting equipment easier. Baling operations were hampered by above-normal precipitation in the fall. Almost 300 tonnes of cattail was harvested in 2012, with an estimated 240 kilograms of P captured and removed. A cost estimate was performed based on the field operations necessary to collect the cattails from both the ditches and Pelly’s Lake site, estimating “research cost” and contracting rates according to the Manitoba guidelines. A premium may be required when using agricultural equipment to account for risk associated with operating outside of typical field conditions. Successfully managing water levels would greatly enhance efficiencies and costs.

This first phase of the Cattail Biomass Harvesting and Biocarbon project successfully demonstrated cattails can be harvested as a biomass feedstock using conventional grain and forage equipment, particularly if the conditions are suitable. Wetland areas are especially productive and produce significant quantities of cattails. A total of 60 cattail bales were shipped to Saskatchewan to produce biocarbon, which will be assessed for energy value, and used for field-scale agricultural crop fertilizer trials and greenhouse fertility and soil trials.

The Government of Canada has released its 2014 Canada’s Emissions Trends report. The report provides information on Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the global context, the country’s historical GHG emissions and projections of its emissions out to 2020, the goal year by which Canada has pledged through the Copenhagen Accord to lower its emissions by 17 per cent relative to 2005 levels.

Overall, the 2014 Canada’s Emissions Trends report finds that, due to policies enacted since 2005, emissions are projected to be 130 million tonnes (Mt) lower in 2020 than they would have been otherwise. Nevertheless, a gap of 116 Mt is expected to remain between projected 2020 levels and Canada’s Copenhagen pledge of 611 Mt, a gap of nearly 16 per cent of Canada’s 2005 emissions. General economic and population growth and growth in the oil sands are the major drivers of projected emissions growth, while federal policies in the transportation sector and provincial policies in the electricity sector are the main drivers of mitigation.

This briefing note summarizes the most important findings of the report, and details the updates and changes made since the 2013 report. It concludes with a brief commentary on the report and the present trajectory of Canada’s emissions trends.

Human migration is playing a significant role in driving land conversion and sustaining the overexploitation of key natural resources in the Bale Mountains ecosystem, to the detriment of conservation and traditional livelihoods.

A similar process of land conversion is taking place in the absence of an influx of migrants, albeit at a much slower pace, and the ecosystem is under threat from a variety of factors, including population growth, changing climate conditions, and shifting livelihood strategies and socioeconomic expectations of the resident population. But in a context of rapid socioeconomic change and escalating internal population pressures, migration accelerates and intensifies the livelihood changes and associated land conversion processes that are inevitable in the long term. This will continue, unless effective and sustainable resource management systems are put in place.

This report presents an assessment of the migration context in the Bale Mountains ecosystem, as well as suggested response strategies. IISD, the Conservation Development Centre and the Frankfurt Zoological Society conducted the research with the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation. The research is part of the Migration and Conservation in the Great Lakes Region project, which attempts to address migration and conservation issues by: (a) developing a methodology to better understand the drivers and impacts of migration on critical natural resources, ecosystems and livelihoods in the Great Lakes region; (b) identifying effective responses for policy-makers and practitioners working on these issues; and (c) catalyzing further research and policy engagement on the topic in the region.

This paper reviews international models of fossil-fuel subsidy reform and greenhouse gas emissions to support parties to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change.

Globally, the removal of subsidies to fossil fuels ($543 billion annually) can lead to global greenhouse gas emission reductions of between 6 and 13 per cent by 2050. The process unlocks domestic savings to governments of between 5 and 30 per cent of expenditure that could be reallocated to households and building a low-carbon energy future. In the context of a low oil price, many countries are phasing out such subsidies. Parties could include emission reductions from this policy tool, within their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. This paper shows how parties could do that using the Global Subsidies Initiative – Integrated Fiscal model (GSI–IF model) to provide country estimates. For more information on country findings, please contact [email protected].

This study reviews deployment subsidies for onshore wind in two countries, Germany and China.

Its primary goal is to better inform debates about cost-effectiveness by exploring the methods required to assess cost-effectiveness and by estimating the general magnitude and range of benefits in several key areas.

The study forms one of a series of three looking at the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy deployment subsidies, each one focusing on different technologies and countries. The increased deployment of low-carbon energy is one of the principal interventions required to avoid catastrophic climate change. At the same time, the success of deployment will depend upon government policy that is effective and that uses resources efficiently. This is central to maximizing the amount of renewables deployed given the resources that are available, and to ensuring that subsidies for renewables remain politically viable. These studies represent a first effort to develop an appropriate multi-criteria framework for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy subsidies, taking into account all costs and the wide range of potential benefits.

This study reviews deployment subsidies for solar PV in two European countries, Germany and Spain.

Its primary goal is to better inform debates about cost-effectiveness by exploring the methods required to assess cost-effectiveness and by estimating the general magnitude and range of benefits in several key areas.

The study forms one of a series of three looking at the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy deployment subsidies, each one focusing on different technologies and countries. The increased deployment of low-carbon energy is one of the principal interventions required to avoid catastrophic climate change. At the same time, the success of deployment will depend upon government policy that is effective and that uses resources efficiently. This is central to maximizing the amount of renewables deployed given the resources that are available and to ensuring that subsidies for renewables remain politically viable. These studies represent a first effort to develop an appropriate multi-criteria framework for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy subsidies, taking into account all costs and the wide range of potential benefits.