fellows

William Rees

Fellow, Ecology & Resilience

Communities, Ecology

William Rees is a Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia (UBC). His teaching and research emphasize the public policy and planning implications of global environmental trends and the necessary ecological conditions for sustaining socioeconomic activity. Much of his work is in the realm of ecological economics and human ecology. He is best known in this field for his invention of 'ecological footprint analysis', a quantitative tool that estimates humanity's ecological impact on the ecosphere in terms of appropriated ecosystem (land and water) area. Dr. Rees was awarded a UBC Killam Research Prize (1996) in acknowledgement of his research achievements.

videos

Planning Down - What If We Can Do Can't?

length: 21:03   credit: Gaining Ground

Post Carbon Fellow Bill Ree's speaking at the October 2009 Gaining Ground Resilient Cities conference. View slide deck.

audio

Smart Decline - Bill Rees (Resilient Cities)

length: 01:00:00   credit: Radio Ecoshockdownload

Bill Rees, originator of the ecological footprint, says we are already into overshoot. We can plan to reduce our resources, or plunge through a series of disasters. Full keynote speech from "Resilient Cities" 10-21-2009 plus Q and A with Warren Karlenzig on Post Carbon Cities, including China's "eco-cities"..

Latest Publications

Is Canada Criminally Negligent on Climate Policy?

William Rees    Dec 04, 2009   

[Excerpt] In the lead-up to Copenhagen, the Canadian government's (non)policy on global warming borders on the criminally negligent. This may seem to be an outrageous assertion, particularly to those lost in the thickening fog … >>

Our Ecological Footprint

William Rees

Our Ecological Footprint presents an internationally-acclaimed tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain our households, communities, regions and nations, converting the seemingly complex concepts of … >>

press coverage

Rees Q&A on IPS

William Rees  

Post Carbon Fellow Bill Rees was interviewed by IPS as part of the Copenhagen climate change conference coverage.   From the article:  IPS: Do we have to change the widespread view that economic growth is always … >>