News

Alexander Cimprich, Steven B. Young.  July 2023.  Environmental footprinting of hospitals: Organizational life cycle assessment of a Canadian hospital.  Journal of Industrial Ecology  

Jonathan Raikes, Daniel Henstra, Jason Thistlethwaite. July 2023.  Public Attitudes Toward Policy Instruments for Flood Risk Management.  Environmental Management, 

Sadaf Mollaei, Leia M. Minaker, Jennifer K. Lynes, Goretty M. Dias.  June 2023. Perceptions and determinants of adopting sustainable eating behaviours among university students in Canada: a qualitative study using focus group discussions.  International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 

Francisco Martin del Campo, Simron Singh, Tomer Fishman, Michael Drescher.  June 2023. The Bahamas at risk Material stocks, sea-level rise, and the implications for development.  Journal of Industrial Ecology, 

Ankesh Siddhantakar, Jair Santillan Saldivar, Thomas Kippes, Steven B. Young.  June 2023.  Helium resource global supply and demand: Geopolitical supply risk analysis.  

Larry Swatuk, David R. Black.  May 2023.  Editors’ introduction: The complexities of worlding international relations: perspectives from the margins.  International Journal Canada s Journal of Global Policy Analysis 

Yi-Shuai Re, SabriBoubaker, Pei-Zhi Liu, Olaf Weber.  May 2023.  How does carbon regulatory policy affect debt financing costs? Empirical evidence from China.  The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 

Adeboye Oyegunle, Olaf Weber, Amr Elalfy.  April 2023.  Carbon Costs and Credit Risk in a Resource-Based Economy: Carbon Cost Impact on the Z-Score of Canadian TSX 260 Companies.  Journal of Management and Sustainability 

Jeffrey Wilson, Céofride Gaudet, Anders Hayden.  April 2023.  Towards Sustainable Wellbeing: Moving beyond GDP in Canada and the World.   

New research shows that U.S. public pension funds would be $21 billion richer had they divested from fossil fuels a decade ago.  

The study, out of the University of Waterloo in partnership with Stand.earth, analyzed the public equity portfolios of six major U.S. public pension funds, which collectively represent approximately 3.4 million people, to determine the effect divesting from their energy holdings would have had. In total, researchers estimate that the pension funds would have seen a return on their investments that was 13 per cent higher on average. 

Another analysis of the same eight U.S. public pension funds included in the report found that the carbon footprint that would have been reduced had they divested 10 years ago is equivalent to the emissions for powering 35 million homes per year. 

Researchers say the report proves that divesting creates additional financial value, lowers exposure to climate risks, and reduced the carbon footprint of portfolios.  

“Influential investors, like these large public pension funds, can bring about positive change on a few fronts,” said Dr. Olaf Weber, professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at Waterloo. “Energy divestments can create higher returns for the funds, which leads to higher returns for the beneficiaries and reduced exposure to climate risks. Consequently, it leads to safer pensions.” 

The report also explored ways that recent changes in the performance of the energy sector due to major global events—such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine—would have influenced the funds. During the last three years, the value of the fossil fuel sector went up because of the reduced oil supply from Russia. Hence, divestment has not been that attractive from a financial point of view. However, the report found that even in times of high performance in the fossil fuel sector, divestment does not reduce financial returns in any significant way. 

“If climate chaos like fires and floods weren’t enough, this latest report strengthens the case even further that public pension funds must divest from fossil fuels as part of meeting their fiduciary duties,” said Amy Gray, senior climate finance strategist at Stand.earth. “As the longest-term investors for workers, the last thing pension funds should be doing is gambling with retirement and deferred wages of their members.”  

Future work will include going into more detail regarding the emissions of particular portfolio holdings on a per-holdings basis or analyzing the emissions of specific companies and then excluding those with the highest emissions. 

"This new Waterloo data hits home for me. My mom is a beneficiary of a public pension, and my family is depending on that retirement income for security," said Miguel Alatorre Jr., Fossil Free California.  "It's unconscionable to me that these funds are investing in fossil fuel companies driving climate change, heat waves, wildfires and flooding, all while losing income for workers.” 

 The report, The Impact of Energy Investments on the Financial Value and the Emissions of Pension Funds, was presented at the IEEFA Energy Finance Conference on June 22.  

This article originally appears on Waterloo News

This afternoon, the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development will celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of our 2023 graduates. Among this group of individuals are five doctoral (PhD) graduands, who have proven their extraordinary level of academic aptitude and become subject-matter experts in areas related to sustainability management. Some of our newest doctoral alumni include:  Dr. Truzaar Dordi; Dr. Sadaf Mollaei; Dr. Sisir Pradhan; and Dr. Francisco Felix Martin del Campo.

Faculty Teaching Award

Dr. Cameron McCordic is a deeply committed and highly innovative teacher, whose teaching has had a significant positive impact on developing student’s problem-solving skills and critical engagement. The committee was particularly impressed by Dr. McCordic’s innovative approach in tailoring learning experiences in large classes to the individual learning needs of students. His development of teaching materials using new technologies demonstrates a deep commitment to student success that has inspired both his students and his colleagues.

Faculty Research Award

Dr. Simron Singh is a globally recognized expert in socio-ecological metabolism who has pioneered the field of island industrial ecology that analyses and leverages resource-use patterns in island systems as an adaptation strategy to climate change impacts. His work on complex disasters, which broadened the understanding of natural disasters to include disaster response and the social and ecological impacts of these responses, has also been recognized as making path-breaking and original contributions to the political ecology of disasters. The committee noted the deeply humanistic element to Dr. Singh’s research and his research program. His research is driven by a recognition of the need to keep individuals and groups at the centre of his research program with a view to improving the lives of more vulnerable communities and to promoting cross cultural understandings.

Learn more about the Faculty of Environment’s awards

BLUE JUSTICE AND COASTAL LIVELIHOODS TO TRANSITION FROM VULNERABILITY TO VIABILITY

Vulnerability To Viability (V2V) Global Partnership, University of Waterloo, Canada
in collaboration with Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and NIRMAN Odisha

Venue: Satapada on Chilika, India

Date: August 12 - 19,  2023

The School of Environment, Enterprise and Development is delighted to introduce Professor Rosella Carè, who joined SEED on May 1st as Assistant Professor and the holder of the RBC Professorship in Sustainability and Financial Management.

Professor Carè joins us from the University of Cagliari, where she was Assistant Professor of Banking and Finance. She received a Ph.D. in Sciences de Gestion at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) of Paris and a Ph.D. in Healthcare Management and Economics at the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro (Italy). She currently holds a Marie Curie Research (Global) Fellowship, a prestigious and highly competitive award administered by the European Commission. Dr. Carè was a visiting researcher at the University of Waterloo in 2021/22.

Dr. Carè has served as the Principal Investigator of the research project "COPERNICUS - Social Finance for Social Enterprises: Theory and Practice to build a more inclusive society," which was funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship. Her expertise lies in the areas of social and sustainable finance, alternative finance (fintech), impact investing, sustainable banking, ESG, climate risks, and financial stability. Dr Carè has a strong record of publications, including three books in the sustainable finance area.

We look forward to the contributions Rosella will make to our department and programs, and to through the initiatives and outreach associated with the RBC Professorship in Sustainability and Financial Management.

Based on a recently concluded study Illuminating Hidden Harvests (IHH): the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development, this webinar uncovers the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis. It aims to contribute to a more holistic understanding of what small-scale fisheries are, their importance, why they are essential for efforts to achieve the SDGs. By using this knowledge wisely within a human rights-based approach in line with the SSF Guidelines, and by empowering small-scale fishers and fishworkers, a more inclusive, equitable, sustainable and resilient small-scale scale fisheries subsector can be achieved, supporting the transition from vulnerability to viability. Click here to view an infographic on this context.

Title of the Webinar: The Transition From Vulnerability to Viability Through Illuminating Hidden Harvests
Date: May 26, 2023 (Friday)
Time: 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM UTC (8:00 AM to 9:15 AM EDT - 2:00 PM to 3:15 PM CEST - Convert to your local time here)
Speaker: Nicole Franz | Equitable Livelihoods Team Leader at FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Fisheries Division
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdr0tNWk_hM (watch this webinar live and participate in its Q&A session)

Click HERE or see the attached poster for more details about this webinar.

Most people try to understand ‘happiness’ from a purely philosophical perspective since it is believed that scientific exactitude has little to do with this construct. While the art of happiness (or the route to happiness) has a rich tradition in Eastern and Western literature, the scientific aspect of it (or the root of happiness) has often been neglected. Besides, the positive emotion of happiness is a far less emphasized area of research, in comparison to research on negative emotions like anxiety or depression.  

Given this backdrop, the present talk will address issues like: (a) challenges in understanding happiness as a construct, (b) observed evidence in scientific domain, and (c) establishing happiness as a transdisciplinary field of study.

Date: Thursday, June 08, 2023 

Time: 
11:00 am - 12:30 pm: Main event (Talk)
12:30 pm -   2:00 pm: Lunch

Location:
Alumni Hall (201), United College, University of Waterloo, 190 Westmount Rd N, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G5

Speaker: Prof. Manas Kumar Mandal | Cognitive neuropsychologist serving as a distinguished professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Chair: Prof. Bruce Frayne | Dean, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo

Free Registration. Seats are limited. Please register here 

Dr. Neil Craik, law professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development and Waterloo Climate Interventions Strategies Lab member, is part of a growing area of research critically assessing the impacts and governance challenges of large-scale climate interventions in the world’s oceans. Recently, he was part of a team of experts assembled by the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative that were tasked with assessing and recommending paths on how to tackle this emerging challenge. Their new paper, Deep-sea impacts of climate interventions, which appears in the journal Science, explores the environmental risks of climate interventions, the current ocean governance challenges and what needs to be done to address them.

Originally posted on Waterloo News

New research finds that Canada’s electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has more than tripled in the last two decades, the equivalent of filling the CN tower 110 times and generating close to a million tons in 2020 alone. 

The University of Waterloo researchers completed the first comprehensive estimate of e-waste in Canada to understand its lifecycle, from sales of electronic items to e-waste generation. Their findings reveal that the e-waste generation per person has increased from 8.3 kg in 2000 to 25.3 kg in 2020. The e-waste in Canada is expected to continue rising in the near future and underscores the need for proactive forecasts to better manage the evolving electronics sector.

“This study provides useful insights to policymakers for setting up targets for e-waste reduction and recycling to recover valuable resources from e-waste,” said Komal Habib, professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development and Waterloo Industrial Ecology Group. “E-waste could also help to create a secondary supply chain of critical materials, reducing the risks of potential supply disruptions.”

The estimated growth of e-waste is attributed to consumer habits and Canada’s growing population. As the number of households increases, so does consumption. The study found that large household appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines, dominate the e-waste stream considering mass. However, the less bulky items dominate in quantity; household lighting is the top item, followed by toys and sports equipment, and information technology (IT) and telecommunications equipment, such as cellphones and laptops.

There are pros and cons of the expected increase in e-waste for the recycling industry. When it comes to IT and telecommunication equipment, the industry’s efforts to make lightweight products are leading to the dilution of precious and critical materials per product, creating a challenge for recyclers to recover. However, increasing quantities of this e-waste could lead to potential incentives for the continuous operation of the recycling industries.

“The findings will be beneficial for stakeholders to explore possible material and revenue generation opportunities from e-waste,” said Habib. “For example, it can help electronic manufacturers and recyclers to understand the potential for urban mining, plan for future extractions of critical materials, and identify the need for safe handling of any hazardous materials.”

The study also indicates that more attention should be given to improving repair, refurbishment, and product life extension opportunities rather than focusing solely on recycling and material recovery. In the future, the researchers indicated that assessing consumer behaviour data to create a more accurate and complete picture of e-waste management in Canada is necessary to better inform sustainable management practices.

The study, A first comprehensive estimate of electronic waste in Canada, appears in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.