“Dr. Victor brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and insight to the Greenbelt Council,” said Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rick Bartolucci, who announced Victor’s appointment Tuesday. “I look forward to working with Dr. Victor and Council as they provide advice on the ongoing implementation of the Greenbelt.”

A professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at 91��ɫ, Victor is an economist who has worked on environmental issues for 40 years as an academic, public servant and consultant. He was Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies from 1996 to 2001, following several years as an assistant deputy minister in Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment. Prior to that he worked in the private sector, where he undertook many policy-related economic studies in Canada and abroad.

“I look forward to working with the Council as we consider and make recommendations to the Minister,” said Victor. “We have come to understand economies as subsystems of the biosphere and realize that a healthy environment and a strong economy go hand in hand.”

Victor continues to provide public, private and non-governmental organizations with technical advice on air pollution and health, emissions trading, emerging issues and full cost accounting at national and corporate levels. He is author of .

By Janice Walls, media relations coordinator.

The post Professor Peter Victor appointed to lead Ontario’s Greenbelt Council appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Defining green jobs raises further questions. What is a green job? Do we need new green jobs or greener jobs? Who will benefit in the transition towards a low-carbon economy? What strategies do we need to transition to greener workplaces?

The panel discussion will explore these challenging issues on Thursday, January 20, 2011 beginning at 3 pm in Room 100A of the Jackman Humanities Building, located at , Toronto, ON.

Participants include expert activists, academics and policy makers:

• John Cartwright, president, Toronto and 91��ɫ Region Labour Council
• Tony Clarke, director, Polaris Institute of Canada
• Clare Demerse, associate director of the Climate Change Program, Pembina Institute
• Marjorie Griffin Cohen, professor, Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University
• Sara Letourneau, director, Labour Climate Project, BlueGreen Alliance (US)
• , principal investigator, Work in a Warming World (W3) and professor, Department of Work and Labour Studies, 91��ɫ University

Green/ing Jobs is organized by (W3). The $1-million project, funded by the , is addressing climate change's challenge to Canadian employment and work, and the ways in which the work world can contribute to the struggle to slow global warming. W3 is affiliated with the (IRIS).

By Sabreena Delhon, W3 project coordinator.

The post Work in a Warming World project to host discussion panel on green jobs January 20 appeared first on Research & Innovation.

To prove his point he created a computer model that duplicated the modern Canadian economy. He then adjusted it so that three crucial elements – consumption, productivity, and population – gradually stopped growing after 2010. He shortened the workweek to four days, imposed higher taxes on the rich, provided more public services for the poor and imposed a carbon tax to provide government revenue. His model showed that within a couple decades things had changed.

The outcomes of Victor’s model were lower unemployment, a rise in standards of living and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The economy reached a steady state after a couple decades.

The complete article is available on the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Prof Peter Victor says growth shouldn't drive the economy, and has numbers to prove it appeared first on Research & Innovation.