From urban tree cooling to creating products from air pollution to helping mountain communities adapt to climate change, five BC research teams have received funding from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions to accelerate climate action.
Teams from the University of Victoria (UVic), University of British Columbia (UBC), and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) will each receive $180,000 over three years through the Opportunity Projects Program (OPP). The program funds research on high-impact climate mitigation or adaptation solutions. In each project, academic researchers work in a team with non-academic partners eager to use the research results to take positive action.
“We’re pleased and humbled to support these important BC-based projects, which bring together researchers, communities, Nations, and business to develop actionable climate solutions across the province,” says PICS Executive Director Ian Mauro. “These initiatives illustrate how PICS can convene, mobilize and leverage BC’s academic sector to support collaboratively designed research that accelerates climate action.”
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (EMLI) contributed to the OPP program and supported a UVic Zero-Emissions Vehicle project, Safe Passage: BC Green Shipping Corridors Assessment.
“These initiatives showcase British Columbia’s critical role in combatting climate change through the innovation of electric and zero-emission vehicles,” remarks Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation. “Importantly, they demonstrate our commitment to create a cleaner and more sustainable future for generations to come, a cause that all British Columbians can take pride in.”
UVic
Two teams received funding to solve climate challenges in the city and on the ocean.
- Cooling with Trees: Urban Tree Solutions for Tempering Climate Extremes
- Safe Passage: BC Green Shipping Corridors Assessment
UBC
Two teams have received grants to turn excess carbon into useable products, and to explore how Indigenous wisdom and knowledge can prevent wildfire.
UNBC
UNBC’s Mountain Community Adaptation to Changing Snowpacks and Geohazards project will connect people in mountain communities with information that will help them adapt to ongoing and future climate-change impacts.
Hosted and led at UVic, PICS-awarded research initiatives reflect the university’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or UN SDGs.
