QUALITY MASS TRANSIT
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
ALIGNMENT WITH THE PARIS AGREEMENT
By thinking beyond borders, Northwest leaders craft an innovative approach to climate change
By Microsoft Philanthropies
As fires, floods and other natural disasters increasingly impact the Pacific Northwest, one thing has become clear: Climate change doesn’t know borders.
When wildfires broke out in October of 2022, plumes of smoke settled over the entire Pacific Northwest and plunged air quality to the worst levels in the world. When a record-setting heat dome settled over the region in June of 2021, it sent thermostats soaring everywhere from Portland to Vancouver, B.C. And when floods ravaged the landscape in November of 2021, they washed out homes in both British Columbia and Washington state.
These disasters challenge the world and impact the entire Cascadia megaregion, which spans from Oregon to British Columbia and transcends the U.S.-Canada border. However, they also unite the region in a shared urgency to address climate change through creative partnerships, bold leadership and innovative problem-solving.
“We’re sitting on a golden opportunity with the resources we have at our disposal. It’s time to kick into action.”
– Christine Gregoire
Setting the foundation for a green Cascadia
The Cascadia Innovation Corridor was created to address issues that have regional impacts and require regional solutions. This year, over 300 leaders in business, government, nonprofit, academic and industry gathered from across the Cascadia region in September for the sixth edition of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference. The topic was climate change – its causes, impacts and potential solutions in the Pacific Northwest.
Ian Campbell, Hereditary Chief of the Squamish nation, agrees with partnering to address climate change, but he also believes that many of these partnerships can learn from the past. Indigenous communities, First Nations, local governments and businesses can all come together to apply traditional conservation practices to a modern-day context.
Tackling climate change requires us to work together. This is the central value of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor.
Moving toward the future
In fact, recent federal actions on climate change mirror this spirit of collaboration and partnership. The recently-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act are both historic investments to address climate change, and both prioritize the role of public-private partnerships in achieving this goal.
These investments will fuel innovative projects that promote sustainability while adapting to the Cascadia region’s rapid growth. According to a 2020 report on the Cascadia Innovation Corridor, 3 million – 4 million more people will move to the Pacific Northwest by 2050. By focusing on initiatives like ultra-high-speed ground transportation, Cascadia has an opportunity to accommodate this population growth while addressing affordability, climate, traffic and other issues that impact quality of life.
At Microsoft, we believe in a future where every person has the skills, knowledge and opportunities to achieve more. We’re committed to empowering people, communities and organizations around the globe in our effort to ensure an inclusive economic recovery.
Learn more at Microsoft
According to Greg D’Avignon, co-chair of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor and president and CEO of the Business Council of British Columbia, the original vision of Cascadia was to build partnerships across the region to address these issues. “Six years ago, we convened the first Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference to understand how our communities can work together to leverage our shared strengths and be leaders in solving some of the world’s toughest challenges,” he said. “Today, we’re seeing the fruits of that effort.”
Christine Gregoire, co-chair of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor and CEO of Challenge Seattle, set the tone for this year's conference during her opening remarks.
Trautman isn’t alone in her optimism about the Cascadia Innovation Corridor.
During a fireside chat at the 2022 Cascadia Conference, Bill Gates, founder of Breakthrough Energy and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, specifically highlighted the role of partnerships in addressing daunting challenges like climate change. “Climate change is getting more attention than it did ten years ago. Government, alongside private investors, are playing an incredible role in looking at the long-term impacts and allocating budget to create much needed innovations. I’ve never seen a problem that’s unsolvable when research entities, government, and the private sector all come together. That’s why I’m optimistic that together, we can solve climate change.”
Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, agreed: “The impact of climate change doesn’t stop at borders. That’s why leaders across the Cascadia Corridor are focused not only on creating a sustainable future for the region but building a hub of innovation to address climate change on a global scale.”
Learning from the past
“For centuries, Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews have been silenced,” he said at the Cascadia Conference, in a discussion of how climate change impacts Indigenous communities. But he also sees an opportunity to embrace what he calls “reconcili-actions,” solutions that combine Indigenous traditions with Western approaches to environmental management.
“Indigenous Peoples are there to engage with others and ensure projects meet our high environmental standards,” Campbell said. “Land use planning, conservancy, collaboration with the business community – these are all shared goals, and they are all essential to addressing climate change in a holistic way.”
When asked about why partnerships and projects like these are important to generate progress, Mark Riker, the executive secretary of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, emphasized collaboration. “This is a massive thing we’re trying to do here,” he said. “If we partner properly, we can do this thing right and the entire region will benefit from it.”
This sentiment of optimism – of hope, resilience, and collaboration – is the foundation of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor. It was the defining characteristic of the 2022 Cascadia Conference, especially as Christine Gregoire stepped up to the podium to deliver the conference’s closing remarks: “I hope you walk away having learned,” she said. “I hope you walk away inspired. I hope you walk away with that Cascadia ‘we can do this’ spirit.”
Then she paused, looked across the room, and said, “Time to get to work.”
Christine Gregoire, CEO of Challenge Seattle and former Governor of Washington state, speaks at the sixth annual Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference
Bill Gates speaks with Brad Smith about innovative climate solutions at the 2022 Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference
And action is being taken. The Cascadia region’s three largest airports – Seattle-Tacoma, Portland and Vancouver – are now collaborating to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon emissions by prioritizing sustainable aviation fuels. The Washington state legislature recently allocated $154 million to develop a high-speed rail system connecting Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. – and British Columbia made a significant investment to study the economic benefits of this system. Elected leaders from California, Oregon, Washington state and British Columbia recently announced new commitments to transition toward a low-carbon economy.
These accomplishments – and many more – all stem from the partnerships that now link the Cascadia region across borders and across sectors.
For Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University, these partnerships are a reason for optimism. “I think we are uniquely positioned to build on our region’s incredible talent,” she said. “We have a history of being collaborative, and the Cascadia Innovation Corridor is proving that collaboration is driving success.”
And action is being taken. The Cascadia region’s three largest airports – Seattle-Tacoma, Portland and Vancouver – are now collaborating to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon emissions by prioritizing sustainable aviation fuels. The Washington state legislature recently allocated $154 million to develop a high-speed rail system connecting Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. – and British Columbia made a significant investment to study the economic benefits of this system. Elected leaders from California, Oregon, Washington state and British Columbia recently announced new commitments to transition toward a low-carbon economy.
These accomplishments – and many more – all stem from the partnerships that now link the Cascadia region across borders and across sectors.
For Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University, these partnerships are a reason for optimism. “I think we are uniquely positioned to build on our region’s incredible talent,” she said. “We have a history of being collaborative, and the Cascadia Innovation Corridor is proving that collaboration is driving success.”
When asked about why partnerships and projects like these are important to generate progress, Mark Riker, the executive secretary of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, emphasized collaboration. “This is a massive thing we’re trying to do here,” he said. “If we partner properly, we can do this thing right and the entire region will benefit from it.”
And action is being taken. The Cascadia region’s three largest airports – Seattle-Tacoma, Portland and Vancouver – are now collaborating to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon emissions by prioritizing sustainable aviation fuels. The Washington state legislature recently allocated $154 million to develop a high-speed rail system connecting Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. – and British Columbia made a significant investment to study the economic benefits of this system. Elected leaders from California, Oregon, Washington state and British Columbia recently announced new commitments to transition toward a low-carbon economy.
These accomplishments – and many more – all stem from the partnerships that now link the Cascadia region across borders and across sectors.
This sentiment of optimism – of hope, resilience, and collaboration – is the foundation of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor. It was the defining characteristic of the 2022 Cascadia Conference, especially as Christine Gregoire stepped up to the podium to deliver the conference’s closing remarks: “I hope you walk away having learned,” she said. “I hope you walk away inspired. I hope you walk away with that Cascadia ‘we can do this’ spirit.”