Nature is one of Canada’s greatest advantages – it provides us with clean air and water, supports biodiversity and buffers our communities against climate impacts. Our forests, farmlands and waters are understood by Canadians to be a foundation for long-term prosperity that supports communities, lowers long term costs and strengthens our national competitiveness from within.
As the Government of Canada prepares to announce a federal Nature Action Plan, we welcome the opportunity to recommit to the delivery of Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy and its targets under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including halting and reversing biodiversity loss, protecting 30% of lands and waters and restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. The recent announcement of support for the Hudson Bay National Marine Conservation Area is an example of forward-thinking investment in nature that builds on other innovative conservation financing in Canada – like the Great Bear Sea Project Finance for Permanence, which will improve management of 10 million hectares of marine ecosystems and create 3,000 jobs.
We have recommended seven priorities to deliver on a Canadian vision for a nature-positive future:
Enhance coordination and mutual accountability.
Clarifying departmental mandates and authorities, and engaging with provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments will ensure nature-positive solutions are effectively woven into inter-jurisdictional and cross-cutting priorities.Deliver on existing protection and restoration commitments.
Maintaining support for key programs and commitments – such as Indigenous Guardian programs, Indigenous-led conservation, Nature Agreements, Project Finance for Permanence initiatives and IPCAs – will sustain efforts to to significantly grow and accelerate the rate of conservation in Canada.Supercharge nature finance.
Encouraging proponents of FPIC-aligned Projects of National Interest to offset and compensate for ecosystem impacts will yield gains for ecosystems and communities, while driving nature positive outcomes and supercharging finance for nature protection and restoration.Enable nature-positive working landscapes and seascapes.
Piloting the design and application of Investment Tax Credits, Indigenous Loan Guarantees and graduated tax incentives will help stimulate investments in practices that enhance natural assets, store carbon in natural systems and support increased Indigenous ownership across productive land- and marine-based value chains.Accelerate high-integrity nature-based offsets.
Accelerating the development of nature-based carbon protocols, addressing financial and technical barriers hindering project development under existing protocols, developing a biodiversity credit market, clarifying Indigenous entitlements to environmental attributes and committing to long-term government procurement of offsets will provide predictability, stability and significantly encourage project development and offset market growth.Invest in nature data modernization and valuation.
Investing in national ecosystem mapping, valuation and data standardization and transparency; making data publicly available and accessible to all levels of government, industry and other stakeholders; and supporting Indigenous-led monitoring and data governance will improve policy design, public and private planning, and enable nature-positive investment.Lead on natural capital budgeting.
Integrating international natural capital accounting standards and classifying natural assets as “capital” in fiscal planning frameworks will ensure Canada’s balance sheets reflect the true value of healthy ecosystems.
These recommendations help Canada recommit to biodiversity and climate commitments and align with a national vision for home-grown resilience rooted in our valued natural landscapes. The Nature Action Plan is our chance to realize this unique advantage and build lasting prosperity for all Canadians.
Nature United was founded as a Canadian charity in 2014, building on decades of conservation in Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, our organization has field staff located across the country. Nature United supports Indigenous leadership, sustainable economic development and science and large-scale conservation, primarily in British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Manitoba. Our organization is also working to accelerate Natural Climate Solutions at national and regional scales. To learn more, visit natureunited.ca or follow us on Linkedin, Instagram and Facebook.
We are the Canadian affiliate of The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organization with more than a million members and a diverse team that includes more than 400 scientists. Our global organization works in more than 80 countries and territories — either directly or through partnerships — to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press.