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The global call to address climate change and advance sustainable development has created rapid growth in research, investment, and policymaking regarding the renewable energy transition of Indigenous communities. From a rightsholder perspective, Indigenous Peoples' vision of sustainability, autonomy, and sovereignty should guide research on their energy needs. In this paper, we present a multi-method, inductive examination to identify gaps between Indigenous communities' expressed needs and rights, and the questions researchers and policymakers investigate in energy transition research conducted in the context of Indigenous communities located in Canada. We combine a systematic review of the extant literature, a scoping review of the grey literature on off-grid communities by Indigenous and non-Indigenous governments and non-governmental policy bodies, qualitative primary data collected via fieldwork, and an in-depth study of an Indigenous-led renewable energy transition study conducted by Haíɫzaqv Nation's Climate Action Team. We holistically examine these different perspectives and identify emergent themes to recommend ways to bridge the gaps between off-grid renewable energy research and stated Indigenous community priorities. Specifically, we recommend designing equitable research practices, understanding community worldviews, developing holistic research goals, respecting Indigenous data sovereignty, and sharing or co-developing knowledge with communities to align with community priorities closely. • There is a research-practice gap in Indigenous communities' energy transitions. • We used a multi-method inquiry integrating Indigenous and Western approaches. • Renewable energy literature diverges from the Indigenous community vision and goals. • Indigenous research methods can reduce the research-practice gap in high-tech fields. • Community-based approaches can use traditional laws to yield actionable outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world moves towards a carbon-free future, cities have been identified as key hubs for change. They have the greatest ability to quickly develop more efficient systems and implement climate change mitigation policies. Moreover, cities will become the destination of a population migration as humanity grows globally to a population of 11 billion. In this case study, we show that the applicability of the Ecological Footprint, an overarching outcome measure of resource consumption, for targeting climate change mitigation in cities. We focus on the carbon Footprint subcomponent of the Ecological Footprint, and further translate and disaggregate the carbon Footprint into detailed classification of individual consumption according to purpose (COICOP) and analyze the Footprint of consumption associated with each of these categories for 15 Canadian cities according to census metropolitan area (CMA), from each province. The Ecological Footprint of CMAs was calculated from the consumption land use matrix (CLUM) of Canada, by scaling results according to the annual national survey of household spending from 2010 to 2015. The expenditure in electricity was also scaled with the carbon intensity factor. Our findings indicate that the carbon Footprint remains the largest contributor of the Ecological Footprint of CMAs. The carbon Footprint associated with housing varied significantly with the source of electricity production. CMAs relying on renewable energy sources have a substantially lower carbon Footprint than those relying on fossil fuel energy. The carbon Footprint associated with the operation of personal transportation was the second largest among all consumption categories. Financial services is the largest share of the carbon Footprint from service consumption. Clothing consumption caused most of the goods’ carbon Footprint. A better understanding of urban planning of Canadian CMAs and promoting local consumption will improve carbon mitigation and long-term sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide make it quite challenging to meet country-specific Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets. Therefore, it is evident that the existing emissions abatement measures need to be taken a step further. Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) are allowed in Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement as a cooperative approach to achieving NDC goals. There is a potential to create ITMOs between Canada and China by replacing coal use in China with British Columbia (BC)'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply. Replacing coal with LNG in energy generation applications is a promising approach to mitigate emissions. With global and national pressures to reduce emissions, China has created a market for LNG imports to cater to its rising natural gas (NG) consumption due to the coal-to-gas source switching strategy. However, the terms under Article 6.2 requires generated ITMOs to ensure environmental integrity, support sustainable development goals, and have a robust accounting system. Therefore, the current study aims to quantify the life cycle environmental outcomes of generating ITMOs by exporting LNG from BC to Chinese end-users while integrating uncertainties and to provide policy recommendations in adherence with the requirements of Article 6.2. Different LNG export scenarios were generated in the study and environmental impacts of each scenario were assessed and compared using a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework developed by the authors. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses were conducted to understand the impacts created by the data uncertainties in the final result. By replacing conventional coal with NG, approximately 40–45% and 26%–32% emissions reductions can be obtainable for Chinese textile and chemical industries, respectively. The highest emissions reduction of approximately 60% was observed when coal is replaced with NG for district heating. The life cycle emissions (LCE) quantification framework provided in the study provides stakeholders with a systematic approach to determine the total GHG emissions and emissions reduction potential of different LNG export scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change is a key concern in today's world, especially with the growth of population and industrial activities. One of the biggest sources of climate change is anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In Canada, buildings are the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, contributing to 12% of the country's equivalent Carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions have various negative impacts on the planet, which impede the transition towards a cleaner environment and more sustainable communities. Attention has now shifted towards Carbon dioxide reduction in addition to the currently practiced energy efficiency improvements and source switching, which is also important in achieving Canada's 2030 climate action goals. The current study attempts to address the above gap by investigating the feasibility of installing carbon capturing unit at building level, based on the perceptions of building managers in both multi-unit residential buildings and non-residential buildings. A Modified Digital Logic approach was used to identify the key factors that determine the acceptability of the unit, based on experts' input. Six primary criteria were identified to design a questionnaire and structured interviews to evaluate the acceptability of building level carbon capturing unit to stakeholders. The findings indicated that around 50% of non-residential building managers were interested in installing the carbon capturing unit, whereas none of the multi-unit building managers were in favor of the unit installation. The lack of interest is attributed to different factors such as unit scalability, inability to accurately estimate the short and long-term economic benefits, and other alternate plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Specifically, when establishing relationship between cost and unit scalability, 82% of residential unit managers and 50% of non-residential managers opined that the unit should be capable of being upgraded to accommodate a larger area and capture more emissions in order to justify the proposed cost of the unit. The findings provide important insights for policy makers in understanding the acceptability of carbon capturing unit at building level and to further develop and promote this emerging technology in the market. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]