Thank you, that's a very good question.
We have argued from the time of the Brundtland report.... And that's why I say, with great pride, that we were the first business organization in the world to endorse the concept of sustainable development. What do we mean by sustainable development? Obviously it's the coming to terms on this planet with the need to create jobs and allow for growth at the same time as respecting the environment.
Now, fast forward. We created in 2007 a task force made up of 33 chief executives, representing all areas of both production and consumption, from the largest companies in Canada. And we called for something very bold. We said that we believed Canada should be an environmental superpower as well as an energy superpower.
One of the components of that was our very strong belief that the concepts of economic development and respect for the environment are not in fact inconsistent, and that the creativity of men and women has to be put to work to ensure that where there are frictions between those two goals, they are reconciled.
This can be done in a variety of ways. The first, obviously, is through conservation. We know how incredibly important conservation is. Another one would be through the effective use of technology. Another one would be to ensure that new forms of production in a consumer-driven world are much more respectful of the environment. Another one was that we will only solve this problem if we come at it from a planetary point of view.
We took issue with those who said that the developed world must do its thing without any commitment from the developing world. The reality is that we will not solve the problem of global climate change, nor will we come to terms with major environmental challenges, unless China, India, Mexico, Brazil, and others are engaged as well.
This does not mean that we should not show leadership; by all means, we should. But we did say--and I said this in a speech in 1989--that the reconciliation of the economy and the environment is the single most important challenge facing the planet. I haven't changed my views. And many of our members—certainly the members of our task force on environmental leadership—are of that view as well.