The 2014 edition of the biennial Globe conferences opened in Vancouver this morning. Each issue of Globe introduces new environmental technologies and approaches to an audience of visitors from Canada and around the world.

Although the Government of Canada has in recent years substantially withdrawn from Globe, increasing participation from the private sector seems to have more than made up the difference. The opening plenary was packed, trade show exhibitor are reporting good attendance, and the trade show floor seems to be almost as packed as usual, though some of the pavilions are smaller than in past years. Program highlights so far have included clean energy trends, the municipal role in the sustainability space, climate action, the social license to operate, and many more. A challenge of Globe has always been to cover so many interesting parallel presentations.

The Globe conference program is at http://2014.globeseries.com/ For those close to Vancouver, or able to travel at short notice, There will be many more interesting presentations on the subject of the business of the environment on Thursday and Friday, 27 and 28 March.