"The climate crisis is our biggest existential threat," said the University of Waterloo's President, Vivek Goel, in his opening address at the Waterloo Innovation Summit on Friday, April 21.
It's no coincidence that the Summit, centred on sustainable transportation, took place on the eve of Earth Day.
The calls and commitments to reduce our carbon emissions have never been louder, but our global energy related CO2 emissions continued to climb in 2022.
"Innovation is essential. We will not meet the targets for carbon neutrality without technologies that do not exist today," Goel continued. "We also know that it is not just technology alone [that will be the solution]. We need the right sets of policies and regulations. We also need to think about behavioural patterns and adoption of new technologies. That's where collaborations and connections across disciplines will be important to think about these issues."
This half-day event was hosted by the University of Waterloo, in partnership with MaRS Discovery District, who welcomed almost 200 sustainable transportation experts and innovators to the MaRS Centre in downtown Toronto.
The setting was also no coincidence. MaRS, like the University of Waterloo's Velocity and commercialization programs, helps to accelerate innovation into business solutions for global impact and economic growth.
