Co-author of the international bestseller Slow Death by Rubber Duck, Dr. Bruce Lourie is one of Canada’s most influential and widely respected problem solvers working on climate, energy, and sustainability. He has been instrumental in the creation of more than a dozen organizations that play critical roles in sustainability around the world, and initiated the largest climate action in North America — phasing out coal in Ontario. Speaking on topics such as getting to net zero, energy systems transition, the role of ESG and sustainable finance, toxic pollution, non-profit leadership, and more, Lourie translates complex issues into timely and actionable information.
Lourie is currently the president of the Ivey Foundation. Under his leadership, it has grown into one of Canada’s largest and most influential climate solutions organizations with a $100-million commitment. Lourie is credited with creating the largest grouping of “solution partnerships” to solve climate change, working on net-zero buildings, electricity systems, electric vehicles, affordable energy, and more. These partnerships include leading businesses, government agencies, Indigenous leaders, and labour and NGO voices.
As an in-demand speaker, Lourie speaks regularly at business, government, academic, sustainability, and philanthropic gatherings around the world. He’s presented at events as diverse as the Canadian Energy Roundtable, Institute for Corporate Directors, Public Policy Forum, C.D. Howe Institute, City of Calgary, Canadian Fuels Association, Canadian Energy Research Institute, the Koli Forum in Finland, the Women’s Health Forum in Pittsburgh, the Paris Cosmetics Summit on Sustainable Cosmetics, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation in Mexico City, the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Association, and the Sydney Writers’ Festival.
Lourie sits on the boards of several organizations including the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, Canadians for Clean Prosperity, and the SeedChange Foundation. He is also the chair of the Transition Accelerator, a senior fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Finance, guest lecturer at the University of Oxford’s Social Finance Program, and a contributing writer to the National Observer. Lourie is a former director of the Independent Electricity System Operator, the Ontario Power Authority, and the Trillium Foundation, and was the founder of many for-profit and non-profit organizations including Summerhill Group and Efficiency Canada.
