Environment leader awarded the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal
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Dr. Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation in the Faculty of Environment,is being awarded the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal. The Honourable Senator Rosa Galvez will be presenting the medal to him at an upcoming ceremony in March 2025 in recognition of his pivotal role in advancing climate change adaptation efforts nationwide.
During Dr. Feltmate’s early career from 1990 – 2008, he was at the forefront of bringing the newly emerging discipline of sustainable development, now referred to as Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG), to Canadian business and the capital markets. After nearly 20 years in the field of sustainable development, Dr. Feltmate turned his attention to climate change and zeroed in on the need for Canada to prepare for increasingly costly flooding, wildfire and extreme heat.
In 2009, Dr. Feltmate joined the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo to focus on applied research in the field of climate adaptation. He secured funding from Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer, Intact Financial Corporation, which led to the creation of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, which is today recognized as Canada’s authority on climate preparedness.
Under his leadership, the Intact Centre developed guidelines to limit damage from flooding and wildfires (Canada’s most costly climate impacts), and extreme heat (Canada’s most lethal impact) that would otherwise bring harm to homeowners, businesses and communities. Additionally, the Intact Centre has become a leading advocate to retain and restore natural infrastructure, such as forests, fields and wetlands, to limit flood risk while simultaneously realizing benefits to biodiversity and carbon sequestration.
Over the past 10 years, Dr. Feltmate has emerged as Canada’s leading spokesperson on the need for Canada to better prepare for climate risk. He has spent much time with journalists in Canada, teaching them about climate change and why Canada must mitigate climate risk. To this end, he does approximately 150 media interviews per year, and is featured regularly on CBC The National, CBC Cross Country Check Up, Global News, CTV, The Current, CBC syndicated radio, Globe & Mail, Canadian Press, Financial Post, and iheart Radio.
Dr. Feltmate meets regularly with Ministers, Deputy Ministers, ADMs, corporate CEOs, Executive Directors of NGOs, and citizens groups, drawing attention to the need to act now to prepare for extreme weather risk. He emphasizes that “every day we don’t adapt is a day we don’t have.” Today, in large part due to his influence, the risk of flooding, wildfire and extreme heat are now the centerpiece of Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy.
Dr. Feltmate is currently on the Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee and Research Advisory Council, Global Risk Institute. He is the Intact Centre’s representative on Climate Proof Canada (Insurance Bureau of Canada) and is on the National Advisory Board of Canada’s Forest Trust. Before this, he was on the Climate Advisory Panel, Minister of Environment (Ontario) and was Chair, Federal Government of Canada Expert Panel on Climate Adaptation.
Previous positions Dr. Feltmate has held include Vice President, Sustainable Development, Bank of Montreal; Director, Sustainable Development, Ontario Power Generation; Partner, Sustainable Investment Group/YMG Capital Management. He has written textbooks on sustainable banking.
