Dr. Blair W. Feltmate

Director of Sustainability Practice, University of Waterloo
Steve Hounsell

Dr. Feltmate is Professor, and Director of Sustainability Practice, in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED), Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo.  He holds the following positions: Chair, Climate Change Adaptation Project, Canada; Senior Advisor (and Past Chair), Sustainable Electricity Program, Canadian Electricity Association;  Technical Facilitator, Bruce Power-Saugeen Ojibway Nation Whitefish Studies; Board member, Pollution Probe; Advisory Board, Greening Greater Toronto; and, Member, Ontario Securities Commission’s Environmental Reporting Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, Dr. Feltmate was Director of Sustainable Development, Ontario Power Generation, and before that he was Vice President of Sustainable Development, Bank of Montreal/Jones Heward Investment Council.  Prior to joining the Bank of Montreal, Dr. Feltmate spent twelve years developing sustainable development programs for over two dozen multi-national companies.

Did you know?

Canada's emissions of greenhouse gases, major contributors to climate change, rose 25% between 1990 and 2005.*

Driving a mid-size car about 5,000 kilometres results in about one tonne of emissions.*

In 2005, human activities released the equivalent of 747 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in Canada. 1 megatonne = 1 million tonnes.*

In 2005, energy production and consumption accounted for more than 80% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.*

Fossil fuels are burned to move people and goods. In 2005, transportation activities accounted for 27% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.*

Energy makes up one-fifth of Canada's merchandise exports.*

As worldwide demand for energy has surged since 1990, GHG emissions from the production of exported energy have jumped 146%.*

Canada has about 0.5% of the world's population, but contributes about 2% of the total global GHG emissions.*

Canada has warmed in recent decades. The trend between 1948 and 2007 shows a 1.4 °C increase in annual temperatures in Canada.*

Temperature increases between 1948 and 2007 have been greatest in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and northern British Columbia.*

Glaciers in the Rocky Mountains are receding and thinning, resulting indecreases in flow during the critical driest months of the year in some rivers.*

Of the 853 glaciers inventoried in 1975 in the North and South Saskatchewan River basins, 328 have disappeared completely.*

The spread of the mountain pine beetle in the central interior of British Columbia has coincided with warmer winter extremes.*

By 2007, 13 million hectares of British Columbia was infested by the mountain pine beetle.*

Canada has experienced heavier precipitation, intense wind storms and less predictable weather patterns over the past five years.*

The winter of 2009 was ranked in the top 10 "wettest winters" between 1948 and 2009.*

As of July 1, 2009, the median age of Canada's population was 39.5 years, up 0.2 years from the same date last year and up 3.1 years from 1999.*

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