TomorrowNow Manitoba: Dialogues toward a green economy

The document details a policy dialogue session aimed at transitioning Manitoba to a green economy. It identifies four priority sectors—water, energy, the built environment, and transportation—and outlines specific barriers and policy tools needed to foster sustainable economic growth. Key recommendations include the use of renewable energy performance standards, green procurement, and specialized workforce training, while emphasizing the need for a coherent vision and the inclusion of diverse stakeholders, including Northern and aboriginal communities.

• Manitoba possesses specific competitive advantages to support a green economy, including its abundance of water resources, bioproducts, hydroelectricity, the transportation sector, and expertise in green building for extremely cold climates.
• The transition to a green economy in Manitoba should focus on four primary sectors: water, energy, the built environment, and transportation.
• Barriers in the energy and water sectors include low consumer energy policy literacy, a lack of connection between climate and energy policies, a shortage of specialized labor for energy auditing and carbon management, and the inaccurate economic valuation of water.
• The built environment sector faces obstacles such as the absence of a standardized building code for energy and water performance, limited access to upfront capital for retrofitting, and the exclusion of rentals and multi-resident buildings from sustainability policies.
• In the transportation sector, poor land-use management and the high fossil fuel consumption of government vehicles are primary barriers; the government is encouraged to create demand for renewable fuels to lead the transition.
• Rural municipalities with low population density face unique challenges, including insurance policies that limit small-scale innovation and insufficient budgets for green construction.
• Proposed policy tools to enable the transition include renewable energy performance standards, procurement standards, public-private coalitions, public finance to mitigate high upfront costs, and workforce training.
• Successful implementation of the green plan requires political leadership, a clear communication strategy, and the active participation of youth, immigrants, and aboriginal and Northern communities.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2013). TomorrowNow Manitoba: Dialogues toward a green economy. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tommorow_now_mb_green_economy.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. TomorrowNow Manitoba: Dialogues toward a green economy. 2013. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tommorow_now_mb_green_economy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=TomorrowNow Manitoba: Dialogues toward a green economy |date=October 2013 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tommorow_now_mb_green_economy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2013tomorrownow, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{TomorrowNow Manitoba: Dialogues toward a green economy}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2013}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tommorow_now_mb_green_economy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }