5th Annual Calgary Climate Symposium – October 23-27, 2023
Join the conversation on climate action at this year’s Calgary Climate Symposium Oct. 23-27, 2023.
The City of Calgary is hosting 12 free public sessions over five days with community leaders, entrepreneurs, prominent climate experts, and City staff to discuss climate change impacts to Calgary, the actions we can take as Calgarians, and the importance of keeping the conversation going.
“We believe in the power of collective action and the potential to shape a greener, more resilient future for our city,” says Carolyn Bowen, Director, Climate & Environment. “The Climate Symposium is an opportunity for Calgarians to come together and learn from each other, climate experts and community leaders about how we can turn today’s efforts into tomorrow’s sustainable legacy. It’s an event that focuses on the local context to build a greener and healthier Calgary for everyone.”
The 2023 Calgary Climate Symposium will kick off with an in-person opening ceremony and session, hosted by Calgary Economic Development at Central Library (800 3 Street S.E.) called Building a Sustainable Future: Opening of the 2023 Calgary Climate Symposium.
The speakers for this session include community and city-building leaders who embody the spirit of change and resilience, including Clarence Wolfleg Miiksika’am (Red Crane), Cultural and Spiritual Advisor from Siksika Nation; Jyoti Gondek, Mayor of Calgary; Stuart Dalgleish, Chief Operating Officer of The City of Calgary; and the keynote speaker Carolyn Bowen, Director of Climate and Environment at The City of Calgary.
Additional 2023 Climate Symposium sessions will be held virtually. Calgarians wanting to participate can learn more and register online.
Themes for this year’s symposium include:
Positioning Calgary for a low-carbon future and leveraging economic opportunities
Strengthening Calgary and its communities to be resilient to climate change impacts and hazards
Ensuring no one is left behind from being protected from climate change or from the ability to take climate action, as we look to the future
The symposium will also cover topics such as the Indigenous relationship between climate and a healthy earth, renewable energy, mobility and transportation, food sustainability, as well as building design and energy use, among others. Speakers include professionals from the building and construction industry, transportation planners and engineers, energy professionals, Indigenous leaders, and social and human rights workers who focus on reducing energy poverty and increasing equity.
BenchmarkYYC Awards
A highlight event, as part of the Symposium, is the BenchmarkYYC Awards, where we recognize commercial building performance with energy use and emissions:
Join us for the inaugural BenchmarkYYC Awards ceremony on October 26 to celebrate Calgary’s top-performing commercial buildings. BenchmarkYYC participants track the year-over-year energy performance of their buildings, report their findings to The City and receive an annual Energy Performance Scorecard. Energy benchmarking is foundational to supporting the continuous improvement of a building’s energy use, while also supporting our long-term strategies to achieve net zero buildings by 2050.
The Climate Symposium offers a wide variety of learning and discussion opportunities, whether you’re a Calgarian interested in learning how to make a change, an educator who may want their class to attend a virtual event and learn more, or a professional looking to incorporate climate action into your work. It’s an opportunity to grow and understand what’s at stake for a thriving Calgary’s now and into the future, as we grow to two million people.
For full Climate Symposium program details and to register, visit calgary.ca/climatesymposium.