Author: Jessica Sam
The McConnell Foundation might just be one of Canada’s substantial solutions for Climate Change.
Climate Change has become one of the biggest concerns of the present. Many organisations in different countries have advanced several solutions to address this. One such organisation is the McConnell foundation. Tracing its genesis back in 1964, the McConnell Foundation is a private foundation in Canada that develops innovative approaches to curb socio-economic and environmental challenges through investments, financial aid, convening and collaborating with partners. This foundation envisions an economy that promotes the well-being of people and their environments for future generations.
The McConnell Foundation provides an opportunity for Canada to meet its climate obligation by reaching the net-zero carbon economy goal under the Paris Agreement. A net-zero carbon economy is an economy where the total Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions get balanced by the natural atmosphere like natural soil, trees and forests. The removal of GHG is also known as carbon removal and helps achieve a carbon-neutral or net-zero carbon economy.
Canadian infrastructure has drastically faced a 70% loss due to its permafrost melting. Wildfires, flooding, droughts, disruptions in farming, insect infestations, warming oceans, etc., are some of the terrible effects of climate change that will worsen in the future if left unaddressed. Furthermore, the Canadian Medical Association has announced that climate change is causing many health complications like cardio-respiratory issues and PTSD to the citizens.
The vision of the McConnell foundation is to work towards helping and improving marginalised people and communities excluded from transition into a net-zero economy and who are more vulnerable to its impacts.
To accomplish this vision, the McConnell Foundation extends its impacts across three areas:
- It supports organisations and projects that have an ingenious plan to lower GHG emissions and address climate change.
- It aids organisations and projects that represent the marginalised communities in transitioning into climate-neutrality. (Example — Racialized, indigenous communities, fossil fuel industry workers and agricultural producers have been affected by calamities.)
- It helps projects that will aid in advancing finance by disclosing the climate change risks across financial sectors. (Example — financial institutions, pension fund boards, corporate boards etc.)
As Climate Science warns us, it is necessary to cut down the current GHG emissions to half by 2030 to keep global warming below 1°C to avoid the harmful effects of Climate change. The McConnell foundation believes that carbon-neutrality can be achieved through ambitious solutions across all socio-economic sectors to make the communities in Canada habitable in the future. A net-zero economy also will improve health concerns, income inequalities, energy poverty, indigenous rights, generate more employment opportunities and also enhance Canada’s production of food.
Image Credits: Matthew Henry on Unsplash
Reference: mcconnellfoundation.ca
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