#17 Rubber ducks, microplastics and climate action with Rick Smith

In this episode we are speaking with Rick Smith, the President of the Canadian Climate Institute (formerly the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices). Rick has had a long career in environmental activism and spent many years as the Executive Director of Environmental Defence Canada. Prior to his time at Environmental Defence, Rick received his PhD from the University of Guelph, where he worked with the Cree community of Waup-ma-goo-stui, in Nunavik, to assess the status of a local seal population. He was also a prominent voice in the battle to develop Canada’s species at risk act. He has co-authored two books focused on the effects of environmental contaminants, a topic that we explore in detail in our conversation, focusing both on his role in raising awareness and lobbying for legislation. We also discuss the emergent crisis of microplastics and the lagging policy response to the issue. This episode was recorded in February and we discuss Canada’s forthcoming Emissions Reduction Plan, now released, which lays out a roadmap for meeting Canada’s target to cut emissions to 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030. https://climateinstitute.ca/