What started out as yet another chance to promote Edmonton’s efforts to combat climate change to a world wide audience in Montreal, turned into a business opportunity for the Edmonton International Airport.
“You never know who you’re going to meet, or what opportunities can come out of attending these international events,” said Mayor Don Iveson on the phone during a break at the Montreal climate change conference.
A chance meeting with the mayor of Quito, Ecuador, could turn into a lucrative relationship.
“The busiest cargo airport in South America is in Ecuador,” said Iveson, who was comparing notes on how Ecuador has a cargo problem.
Plane load after plane load heads to North America full of South American grown flowers. And the planes fly back empty.
“It just so happens their airport is owned and operated by a Canadian consortium, so I sat next to him at dinner and we’ve got follow ups on air cargo and logistics and free trade zones.”
The main reason Iveson is there, was to present to the delegates an update on local efforts announced in March to combat climate change in Edmonton. The Edmonton declaration was endorsed by delegates from 1,500 cities representing over 100 countries.
Host Mayor Valérie Plante of Montreal put her signature to the document, which includes a scientific agenda to urge municipalities to aim for the target.
“It calls for continued commitment from local governments to do our part to try to keep warming under two degrees, so every one remains supportive of that,” Iveson said.
Iveson has been promoting metro Edmonton’s business opportunities.
“There’s some really neat things happening with biofuels in our region,” he said. “Alberta’s been a leader in wind for a long time and so there are economic opportunities that come with taking up the climate challenge.”
That includes home upgrades to increase energy efficiency.
“As the new PACE legislation comes in to effect and people have the opportunity to get good financing to either bolt on renewable energy or make energy efficiency upgrades to the structure of their home or business there are going to be a lot of jobs as people make these investments.”
Iveson also touched on the Big City Mayors’ file with Plante.
“We had a chance to talk a little bit about the upcoming federal election, and the strategy that the cities will be employing to try to gain additional empowerment so that Canadian cities can be successful.”
That includes the October 17 date where marijuana becomes legal. Major Canadian cities are still seeking financial assistance to handle increased police and other costs.