INVITED SPEAKER

Emerging Opportunities for Conservation Markets in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

Dr. Marian Weber
Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, Canada

Duration

40 minutes

Abstract

The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin is one of the largest deposits of unconventional energy in the world. Sustainable development of unconventional energy is a significant challenge and the sector must respond to increasingly stringent public demands for environmental accountability and minimization of environmental impacts. Alberta’s Provincial Energy Strategy recognizes that energy development must properly account for cumulative effects and address the environmental footprint. In addition, The Alberta Oil Sands Plan identifies conservation offsets as a land management tool that could contribute to achieving desired conservation outcomes within Alberta’s regional planning process. In this talk we will review market based approaches for addressing environmental liabilities associated with developing Alberta’s non-conventional energy resources including reviewing existing legislation and options for implementing conservation offsets in the province. The talk will highlight the economic and ecological tradeoffs in designing conservation offsets, and discuss several implementation challenges, including determining baselines and nesting offsets within the existing regulatory framework. The talk will increase industry’s awareness of some of the challenges and opportunities for environmental offsets in Alberta, and identify technologies that could assist firms in project planning within an offset context.

Biography of the Invited Speaker

Dr. Marian Weber leads Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures Environmental Planning and Economics Program where she works with government, industry, and NGOs on testing market based approaches for managing environmental services from land and water resources and developing technologies to assist firms in assessing their environmental footprint and contribution to cumulative effects. Areas of research include markets for biodiversity and ecological conservation on public and private lands, and water trading. She has co-authored a number of reports on the economics of biodiversity conservation in the boreal forest including "Catching Up, Conservation and Biodiversity Offsets in Alberta's Boreal Forest" with the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and Conserving Canada's Natural Capital: The Boreal Forest, Al-Pac Case Study for the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy. Most recently she has advised the Government of Alberta on options for conservation offsets in the oilsands. She has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Alberta and is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Rural Economy, University of Alberta.