Episode 48 is with Senator Colin Deacon, Senate of Canada

Independent Senator Colin Deacon was appointed to represent Nova Scotia in the Senate of Canada in June 2018. Senator Deacon shares his vision on how government policy can empower entrepreneurs and encourage investment in carbon removal technologies, and that regulator agility is critical to adapting to the fast evolving needs of carbon removal and climate solutions more generally. We dive deep on what regulatory agility could look like, including regulatory sandboxes, touch on opportunities for international cooperation on carbon removal given that Canada will host the G7 in 2025, and how innovation can provide hope and optimism in addressing climate change.

In this episode, Na’im and Senator Colin Deacon discuss:

* Senator Deacon’s journey to the Canadian Senate;

* Senator Deacon’s understanding of carbon removal as part of the tool kit in addressing climate change; 

* The role of public policies in creating frameworks to enable entrepreneurs to solve problems;

* The idea of regulatory sandboxes for carbon removal;

* Canada as a global leader in carbon removal;

* Building political capital in scaling carbon removal;

* Ensuring political consistency through shifts in a democracy.

Relevant Links:

* Senator Colin Deacon’s Office

* Senator Colin Deacon on LinkedIn

* “Harnessing Canada’s Entrepreneurial Spirit to Remove Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere” - The Hill Times (Op-ed)

* Senator Deacon makes the case for why Canada holds the potential of becoming home to the most effective and cost-efficient carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies in the world - CHAMBER SPEECH [Video]

* Examine and report on ocean carbon sequestration and its use in Canada - Testimony from Canadian CDR companies at the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans [Video] 

* Na’im’s testimony the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans [Video]

About Senator Deacon:

Senator Colin Deacon was appointed to represent Nova Scotia in the Senate of Canada in June 2018. A lifelong entrepreneur, he believes in the power of innovation to address the most pressing issues facing Canada and the world. Recently, he is most focused on championing policies to incentivize and empower the private sector to aggressively address climate change, enabling greater regulatory agility particularly in response to emerging technologies, and harnessing the digital economy.

This episode was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Consecon Foundation.

This episode was created and published by Na’im Merchant. Episode production and content support provided by Tank Chen.

Na’im Merchant is the co-founder and Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada, a policy initiative focused on scaling carbon removal in Canada. He is on the advisory board of the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative and Terraset, and a former policy fellow with Elemental Impact. He previously ran carbon removal consulting practice Carbon Curve, and publishes The Carbon Curve newsletter and podcast. Every two weeks, Na’im will release a short interview with individuals advancing the policies, technologies, and collective action needed to scale up carbon removal around the world.

Tank Chen is the Head of Content and Community at CDR.fyi, a public benefit corporation dedicated to accelerating carbon removal through transparency. He is also the co-founder of CDRjobs, a career platform for the carbon removal industry. Based in Taiwan, Tank is a carbon removal advocate focused on educating policymakers, corporate leaders, and the public on the importance of carbon removal, using data-driven insights to support communication and policy advocacy.

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