Turning Carbon Liabilities Into Profits For The Mining Industry

Jessica Verhagen

Jessica Verhagen is the Director of Business Development with the Climate Action Secretariat. In this role, she works to enable businesses to grow within a carbon constraint. She leads industry Climate Action Working Groups in defining their sectors in 2020 and beyond by identifying emission reduction pathways and developing the business case and government policies to make those emission reductions a reality. She is a Lead Negotiator in the Western Climate Initiative under Tim Lesiuk, BC’s chief negotiator for the WCI. The WCI is working to design a cap-and-trade system and influence North American developments. Jessica leads the WCI’s economic modeling, allowance allocations and offset protocols. Jessica also assisted in the establishment of the Pacific Carbon Trust, the BC crown corporation responsible to purchase offsets to meet BC government’s carbon neutral commitment.

She previously worked as a manager in the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources providing strategic advice to the Assistant Deputy Minister on policy initiatives, program development and change management. She worked with First Nations, local governments, environmental organizations and industry to develop and evaluate innovative options to resolve energy issues.

Jessica lives in Vancouver, British Columbia and studied environmental science and economics at the University of Victoria.

Ben Chalmers

Vice President, Environmental & Technical Affairs, Mining Association of BC

Ben Chalmers joined the Mining Association of BC in 2009 as the Vice President of Environment and Technical Affairs. His responsibilities include working with governments and industry to develop and implement policies that are consistent and compatible with a vibrant and successful mining industry in BC. One of Ben’s specific responsibilities is to represent the MABC and its members in efforts to develop climate change policy within BC including the move towards a cap and trade system for achieving emissions reduction targets. Before joining the MABC Ben worked as the Environmental Supervisor for Myra Falls Operations, a zinc-copper-gold mine on Vancouver Island. Ben holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Management from Royal Roads University and a B.A. in Geography from Simon Fraser University.

Boyd Cohen, Ph.D., CEO

Boyd is an adjunct professor at UBC in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and the co-author of a forthcoming book with Hunter Lovins, entitled, Climate Capitalism. Boyd is the co-founder of CO2 IMPACT, a carbon project originator focusing on Latin America and North American carbon reduction projects. He's a LEED-accredited professional and consulted on the Athlete's Village for 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. Boyd spent nearly 10 years in academia where he taught and researched sustainable entrepreneurship from Spain to Central America and finally Canada.

Pedro Camanho, Carbon Analyst

Originally from Brazil, Pedro speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese, an important asset to CO2IMPACT. He previously worked for Cantor CO2, one of the largest full services carbon companies in Latin America, in Brazil. Pedro received his degree in Global Resources at UBC and was the founder of the UBC Alternative Energy Club. Pedro assists CO2IMPACT with our baseline methodologies and our documentation work (PINs/PDDs).

Cameron Stonestreet

Cameron Stonestreet is a business development associate at Pacific Carbon Trust, responsible for sourcing carbon offsets, market and policy analysis and client relations. Cameron brings extensive experience in policy and market analysis from his work as a contractor in the natural resource sectors and the Pacific Forestry Centre, where he was responsible for socio-economic analysis related to BC’s Mountain Pine Beetle forest epidemic. Natural Resource and sustainability issues informed much of Cameron’s most recent work with the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources as a senior analyst and regulatory economist for the electricity sector. While there, Cameron provided much of electricity sector economic and policy analysis, developed regulations for remote community electrification, and led files related to international treaties and negotiations.

Cameron has a master of economics degree from the University of Victoria, specializing in labour economics and natural resource management. In his spare time, Cameron travels extensively, downhill skis and hikes.

Pacific Carbon Trust is a provincial Crown corporation with a mandate to deliver high quality made-in-BC greenhouse gas offsets to help clients meet their carbon reduction goals and to support the growth of BC’s low-carbon economy.

Daniel Hegg

Daniel Hegg holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree specializing in Accounting/Auditing and a Master of Science in carbon and triple bottom line constructs both from the University of Victoria.

With a background in auditing, assurance and carbon accounting, Daniel is a career greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions auditor and climate consultant, serving both private and public sector clients. Daniel’s current work focuses on applying his knowledge of climate change markets and ISO 14064-3:2006 Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification including regulatory and voluntary offsetting schemes and protocols—to the development of an emerging climate change service line for the British Columbia region. This work has included the review of regulatory and voluntary offsetting schemes and protocols, participation in the verification of GHG baselines and inventories, developing GHG reduction and management strategies and performing due diligence assessments on pre-compliance carbon credits.

Glenn Barr, Senior Specialist, Mining, Stantec

Glenn is a Senior Specialist for Mining, based in our Sidney, BC office. He has over 14 years of experience in the mining and metal refining industry, most recently performing a lead role in project evaluation and business development at a major mining company. Glenn graduated from the University of Victoria with a B.Sc. in Chemistry. During his time at University, Glenn worked for BHP’s Island Copper Mine in Port Hardy, Syncrude’s operations in Fort McMurray, and Teck Cominco’s CESL facility in Vancouver.

From 1997 to 2003, Glenn worked as a shift supervisor, plant superintendent, process metallurgist, plant metallurgist, and finally a senior technical advisor for Teck Cominco’s CESL hydrometallurgical research group in Richmond, BC. From 2004 until 2008, while Glenn continued to work as a senior technical advisor for hydrometallurgical research and development, he also became part of Teck Cominco’s corporate development group in Vancouver, where he was a senior project leader for business development, responsible for opportunity analysis and economic evaluation of projects where a technological lever could be used to unlock challenged ore deposits. In this capacity, Glenn was involved in many commodity research projects, looking at the supply and demand expectations for the majority of base and precious metals.

Glenn has written many papers on the economic impacts of development projects, and has given lectures and presentations to government agencies, industry, and universities on the topic. He has worked on concept, scoping, prefeasibility, and feasibility studies with industry clients in Brazil, Peru, Chile, Mexico, the US, Canada, and Australia.

Stantec is a design and consulting firm that provides comprehensive services at every stage of a project, from initial concept and financial feasibility to project completion. Stantec is actively involved in multiple climate change activities including developing and verifying greenhouse gas emission inventories, evaluating building energy systems, developing greenhouse gas management plans and offering recommendations to optimize energy use, minimize costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for buildings, neighbourhoods and communities.

Sheila Ballantyne and Dr. Michael Hitch from UBC

Sheila Ballantyne is a Master of Applied Science candidate at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia. She is currently completing her thesis on GHG management in the mining industry of British Columbia with supervisor, Dr. Michael Hitch. She is planing to start a PhD in 2010 in rock mechanics. Ms. Ballantyne earned her Bachelor of Science with Honours in Geology from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia in 2006. She has worked with the Nova Scotia DNR as well as junior exploration companies throughout British Columbia.

Michael Hitch, PhD., P.Geol. is an Assistant Professor at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia. He is a licensed Professional Geologist in both Alberta and British Columbia. Dr. Hitch’s current research includes Anthropocentric CO2 sequestration with reactive mine waste rock, aboriginal input and participation in mine design and operation and sustainable resource utilization. Dr. Hitch received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in, a Master of Science Degree in Geology from the University of Ottawa, and a PhD in Environmental and Resource Studies from the University of Waterloo.