The University of British Columbia is on the verge of meeting the Kyoto Protocol target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Freda Pagini, UBC's director of sustainability, told the Georgia Straight that the institution will achieve the Kyoto goal of a six-percent reduction below 1990 levels by next year. Canada and B.C. are not even close to meeting this objective for cutting greenhouse gases, which cause global warming. Under the 1997 Kyoto agreement, signatories must meet the target between 2008 to 2012. UBC will beat the deadline by two years.

"There is a growing body of people on the campus who really want the university to be moving in this direction," Pagini said.

Pagini noted that UBC's greenhouse-gas reduction was achieved at the same time as the campus population increased by 24 percent. She attributed this to energy conservation and a reduction in vehicle trips. "Buildings use almost half of the energy in Canada," she noted. "If we can make buildings that are more energy-efficient, that will save carbon emissions big-time."

Pagini revealed UBC's projected success on the eve of a new eight-month joint UBC-World Urban Forum program of public discussions and community events that will highlight urban sustainability. Called Living in the Global City, the series will feature local and international academics and writers, including science-fiction author William Gibson, in the period leading up to next June's third World Urban Forum. On Thursday and Friday (October 20 and 21), it begins with a two-day community forum at 29 West Hastings, which is sponsored by the Community Arts Initiative.

The man sometimes called Mr. Sustainability, former premier Mike Harcourt, will be one of the speakers at the first free public panel discussion in Vancouver on Friday (October 21). It takes place from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at UBC's Robson Square Theatre in downtown Vancouver.

"Even with our problems with traffic congestion, drugs, crime, and high housing prices, we're still a world leader in addressing urban sustainability issues," Harcourt told the Straight. He included culture, the economy, the environment, and social factors in his definition of sustainability. Harcourt said that the Winter Olympics and the World Urban Forum, a biennial gathering established by the United Nations, offer an opportunity to demonstrate Vancouver's leadership in sustainability to the world.

During his long career in politics, Harcourt fought the creation of a freeway into Vancouver, forged a provincial partnership with Washington state to preserve the Strait of Georgia-Puget Sound Basin ecosystem, and introduced the Growth Strategies Act, which promoted regional sustainability.

Harcourt will appear on the panel with UBC Prof. William Rees, retired professor H. Peter Oberlander, aboriginal youth advocate Stan Williams, and Nola-Kate Seymoar, president and CEO of the International Centre for Sustainable Cities. UBC currently has 131 academics who focus on sustainability in five major areas: social policy, cities and settlements, environment and resource management, economics and business, and UBC's management and operations.

Dennis Pavlich, UBC vice-president of external and legal affairs, told the Straight that Oberlander played a major role in bringing the World Urban Forum to Vancouver. It will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the first UN conference on human settlements, called Habitat, which was also held in Vancouver in 1976. Oberlander was the key organizer of that event.

Pavlich explained that Oberlander approached federal Liberal cabinet minister Stephen Owen at the 2002 World Urban Forum in Nairobi and persuaded him that Vancouver should host this event as well. Pavlich said it's appropriate for UBC to be involved in the World Urban Forum because of the university's pioneering research on sustainability. He cited Rees and Prof. John Robinson as two of UBC's many world leaders in the field.

Pavlich, who will introduce the speakers at Friday's panel discussion, described Rees's concept of the "ecological footprint" as a gift to the world. It's a way of calculating a person's, a city's, or a country's ecological impact on the planet. "It's brilliant," Pavlich said. "It also touched the heart.…Each one of us can assess how much we are abusing this world as opposed to stewarding the world."

Robinson has obtained funding to build the country's most sustainable building, called the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, at the Great Northern Way Campus shared by UBC, SFU, BCIT, and Emily Carr Institute. The so-called living building will be a net energy producer, will require no external water supply, and will treat all wastes and water on-site.

Pavlich called Robinson's work "applied research in the truest, greatest way" because it will incorporate different aspects of sustainability. "He is trying to create something that is kind to the environment but which makes economic sense," Pavlich said. "That, to me, is a very significant step."

He added that the Friday panel discussion will be a success if the audience leaves with the realization that "sustainability now requires action". Over the next four weeks, the Straight will publish commentaries on sustainability by leading UBC academics, starting next week with Prof. Rees.