From Pledges to Progress
WCS Canada President Justina Ray explores how Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy will drive action on the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework
Putting agreement into action
The signing of the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) by 196 countries last November was a watershed moment for addressing of the ongoing – and accelerating – loss of biodiversity worldwide, including in Canada. The agreement required all the signatory countries to develop plans for how they would address the four overarching goals and 23 integrated targets in the agreement through National Biodiversity and Action Plans (NBSAP). As of October 15, only 25 countries plus the EU have met the deadline ahead of the COP16 Biodiversity Summit.
Canada has set an excellent example by working quickly to develop Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy outlining strategic directions and priority actions for implementing the KMBF in Canada, a country with some of the largest intact wild landscapes left on the planet and one that has developed some of the most advanced models of Indigenous-led conservation. When the world meets in Cali, Colombia later this month to assess progress and refine the agreement, we can feel confident that Canada will continue to be seen as an important leader.
Our primer looks at all of the 23 targets in the KMBF and what they mean for Canada and provides a brief summary of how these are being addressed in the 2030 Nature Strategy. Because we see the biodiversity crisis firsthand in our scientific field work and understand the conservation policy landscape in Canada and around the world, we want to share our unique perspective on this crucial agreement (and our colleagues at WCS global have done so as well for the upcoming talks).
There are a number of positive elements in Canada’s workplan for implementing the agreement. First, it fully recognizes the extent of the crisis within our borders, with statements like “nature is in trouble” and “Canada is no exception to these trends”. It then goes on to note that our economic and social prosperity depends on the health of natural systems – not the other way around. It also points out that the risks of inaction are significantly higher than the costs inherent in taking swift and ambitious action to stop and reverse biodiversity loss.
Recognizing the scale and urgency of the problem is a key first step. Acknowledging the need for transformative actions is next and the strategy does that as well. For example, it recognizes that Indigenous Peoples have been the first biodiversity protectors, and have stewarded the lands, waters, and ice across Canada since time immemorial. Embracing the leadership of these communities will be key to effective action, and to ongoing reconciliation efforts.
Similarly, the strategy recognizes the need for a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach built on partnership and collaboration. Importantly, it takes this further by recognizing the underlying causes of biodiversity loss - such as societal values and behaviours that include unsustainable production and consumption, subsidies that are harmful to biodiversity, and economic systems that do not reflect the true values of nature or respect a reciprocal and responsible relationship toward nature - and how these influence direct drivers of biodiversity loss like urban development and resource extraction activities.
Canadians understand the importance of nature, with 96% believing nature is important to their personal well-being. It is good to see that the strategy recognizes this as well by embracing a “One Health” perspective, which recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.
Transformative change
The KMGBF is really built around the understanding that we cannot address the combined biodiversity-climate crisis with the modest incremental measures that we have banked on to date. In fact, its entire structure is built around the concept that addressing targets in isolation will not result in the needed change. Instead, a holistic approach is required that combines coordinated action on multiple fronts.
The good news is that in its new strategy, the Canadian government has shifted from its previous approach in 2015 of cherry picking objectives under the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which guided conservation efforts between 2010 and 2020, to addressing all 23 targets in the KMGBF.
And it has identified important measures, such as giving more attention to spatial planning to safeguard land- and seascapes with high ecological integrity along with identifying areas of high biodiversity importance (for example, Key Biodiversity Areas) while making the importance of these areas better understood by Canadians.
Another important piece is the new federal Climate, Nature, and Economy Lens, implemented through the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment, which has the potential to serve as a first step towards embracing the whole-of-government approach that is missing in many currently siloed government initiatives.
Embracing a multi-species, ecosystem-based approach to species at risk recovery and conservation planning is also a step forward and can potentially shift us to more proactive policies instead of relying so heavily on a project-by-project reactionary approach.
Concretely, Parks Canada’s work to establish 10 new National Parks, 10 National Marine Conservation Areas, and four freshwater National Marine Conservation Areas, and designate up to six National Urban Parks by 2026 (and 15 by 2030), in collaboration with Indigenous partners, stakeholders, and other levels of government, is an important way of recognizing that Canada needs to take urgent action to better protect its globally important wild areas.
This is all well and good, but the strategy itself recognizes that achieving our goals is going to require greater resources and greater inter-governmental coordination. With so many resource and land-use decisions lying in the hands of the provinces and territories, the federal government has to find creative ways to demonstrate leadership and incentivize action. Setting out its understanding of the critical nature of the biodiversity crisis and a fulsome plan of action is a good way for the federal government to lead. But it is also going to need to properly resource these actions to prove its seriousness and to bring partners to the table, including ensuring adequate funding for the new nature advisory committee mandated to help guide implementation of the recently-introduced Nature Accountability Act (Bill C-73).
As the Green Budget Coalition has noted, “Expanded and longer-term investment is needed to support new conservation initiatives identified in the Strategy to ensure we reach all our national and international biodiversity targets by 2030. Designed well, this investment can result in the added benefit of engaging and mobilizing Canadians from coast to coast to coast in efforts to protect and restore our country’s beloved natural heritage—a core value of Canadians—and contribute to resilient, diversified economies and community well-being.”
