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New Parliament: Top 10 for the Environment Agenda (Lopoukhine)

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August 16, 2021

New Parliament: Top 10 for the Environment Agenda (Lopoukhine)

By Nik Lopoukhine

As Election Day 2021 approaches the Pearson Centre invites thoughtful Canadians to share their thoughts about the public policies Canada needs in the years ahead. We encourage political parities to keep an eye on this website for bold and innovative ideas.
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THE TOP 10 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES FACING THE NEXT GOVERNMENT
An update of previous articles on the Top !0 environmental issues

by Nikita Lopoukhine

The next Government is destined to inherit and face serious mounting environmental challenges. While the following is a list of these, they are not unique. Each has an impact on the others and they must be addressed holistically. Climate affects biodiversity as does pollution. Public health is affected by climate, pollution, and biodiversity, etc. The all-inclusive nature of environmental issues that are affected by economics and social trends suggests the need to provide environmental oversight authorities to the Minister of Environment on all cabinet decisions.

In my previous essay on environmental challenges, I noted advances made by previous governments and focused on two issues, climate change, and biodiversity loss. These issues, though they have been addressed in part, are not yet solved. They have now become even more acute challenges.

1. CLIMATE CHANGE:
Issue: The International Panel on Climate Change has just released its most recent report stating that humans are unequivocally the cause of the warming climate. The report does provide hope in that there is still time to halt further increases but drastic action is required. Otherwise, the current experiences of droughts, fires, heat domes, and intense storms will become the new normal. Canada’s north is particularly vulnerable to disruptions with the possibility of sea ice disappearing.
England is hosting member countries of the climate change convention at the beginning of November. At this meeting, countries will be expected to commit to enhanced ambition as outlined in the Paris Agreement, a process colloquially known as the ‘ratchet mechanism’. Canada will be taken to task since its emissions increased since the promises made six years ago at the world meeting in Paris.

Action: Environmental Defence reports that Canada invested over $18B in subsidies in 2020 to fossil fuel production. This is in contrast to a commitment of $15B over ten years for climate initiatives. Clearly to meet any obligations for reducing emissions now and in the future, subsidies, let alone the production of oil and gas, must cease.
Eliminating the generation of electricity using fossil fuels must be at the top of the list. New more efficient green technologies are dropping in price to permit this specific action. Continuing with subsidies to build energy-efficient and retrofit existing buildings is also critical. Assuring green public transit fueled by non-fossil fuels is another important investment to be pursued along with subsidizing hybrid vehicles and charging stations. Planting trees and establishing large conservation areas where carbon can be sequestered is equally worth pursuing. Launching a public information program on the linkage of personal choices of diet, transport, and shelter to decreasing carbon emissions would be an important step to motivate Canadians to take personal action.

2. BIODIVERSITY LOSS:
Issue: Biodiversity, the variety of all living things, is declining at an alarming rate around the world. According to World Wildlife Canada, Canada has had a 59% decline of at-risk species since 1979. Megafauna and freshwater biota are the most vulnerable. The causes of these declines are well-known: deforestation, urban expansion, transportation corridors, pollution, climate change (drought, heat, and fires), agriculture, and harvesting.

Action: Slowing down biodiversity loss must encompass strategies of more ambitious conservation efforts. For example, setting targets of 25 % conserved area by 2025, 30% by 2030, and 50% by 2050 are worth pursuing. Besides focusing on the total area conserved, a commitment to effective management of these areas is equally important. One critical consideration in light of climate change is to ensure conserved areas are not isolated by providing natural corridors between conservation areas and so permit the movement of species. Such corridors need to include providing overpasses and underpasses to mitigate the effect of transportation infrastructures. All such initiatives must include Indigenous involvement, such as building up the nascent Guardian programs to set up trust funds to assure the capacity for overseeing the management of conservation areas. Wherever possible, investing in ecological-based restoration initiatives of degraded lands and water is an effective means of recouping biodiversity losses. A concerted campaign needs to be launched to influence how Canadians produce and consume food favouring healthier and more sustainable diets.

3. POLLUTION(PLASTICS)
Issue: Canada has numerous pollution problems that need attention. Plastic is a fundamental and most evident problem. Microplastics are now appearing in the food we consume. Canada generates 3 million tonnes of plastic every year and only 9% is recycled. The rest is entombed in landfills which keep expanding for future generations to deal with.

Action: Canada needs to look to Africa where out of 54 states, 34 have either passed a law banning plastics and implemented it or have passed a law with the intention of implementation. Simultaneously another initiative is to work with the industry to build up their capacity to recycle by avoiding single-use plastics and finding ways to repurpose the used plastic.

4. PUBLIC HEALTH
Issue: The current Covid pandemic has demonstrated the interface between animals and humans as a cause of disease. The increased contact between human and wildlife and greater exploitation and trade of wild animal products enables the spread of diseases from animal populations to humans. This affects in particular those who have little or no resistance to them. Another example is Lyme disease spreading northward as disease-bearing ticks spread with increasing temperatures.
Yet, human health benefits directly from exposure to nature. IUCN has published several examples. Physical activity in Australian Victorian parks avoids A$200 million in health costs. In the UK, protected areas actively promote the ‘Green Gym’ scheme using the natural environment as a health resource. In Japan, “Shinrin-yoku” is the traditional practice of taking in the atmosphere and energy of the forest to improve health and reduce stress. Keoladeo National Park in India provides free access to a designated 2-km stretch which up to a thousand ‘morning walkers’ enjoy every day between 5 and 7 am. Importantly, natural landscapes have been shown to provide health benefits to people with mental health or substance abuse problems. In England, the Phoenix Futures Conservation Therapy Programme helps people with the management of substance misuse through involvement in conservation projects in National Nature Reserves. In the Australian State of Victoria, the Healthy Parks Healthy People programme has developed long-term cooperation with mental health facilities to bring patients into parks and protected areas. Doctors in Washington DC are prescribing exposure to nature as a treatment for mental health.

Action: The recently announced investment in urban parks is a significant step forward. Working directly with cities, the federal government is embarking on the establishment of a string of urban protected areas that will provide the opportunity for urban dwellers to experience nature. Besides the benefits enumerated above, urban parks provide an opportunity for citizen science programs, restoration of endangered or at-risk species, and assurances of exposure to nature.

5. CITIZEN APATHY
Issue: Albert Einstein said, “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” Mobilizing people to engage regarding a serious problem has proven to be difficult. Problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss are distant, happening mostly in the future and to other people and, for the most part, really have not affected individuals directly. Then, deniers wage a war of words against the committed environmentalists, which at a minimum confuses if not leads to disregard of the issue or to consider the issue as irrelevant. Apathy quickly sets in. Now as the clear disruptive evidence of climate change mounts, it is time to attack apathy.

Action: Going forward, it is best to pursue actions that are fair and not favoring special interests. There must be ways forward where the effort is shared equally and open to all. The solutions cannot be open to buying your way out of any proposed solution that requires sacrifices. Each initiative calling for a “sacrifice” needs to be offset with statements underlining the resulting accrued benefits, be it increased natural spaces, better-insulated homes, or affordable electric vehicles.
Individuals need to join forces with like-minded people with common sense. Meet, organize, plan and become change agents. Mobilize elected representatives to change and focus on electing candidates who will take on the challenges we all face.

6. INVASIVES
Issue: Our natural world is being disrupted by invasive species. While many species have been introduced for the benefit of humans, the problem occurs when non-native plants and animals outcompete and dislodge species that have evolved specifically to live there. Invasive species have a cascading effect on the native species which are dependent on the displaced species. For example, if milkweed which is critical to monarch butterflies’ life stages is displaced by an invasive species, monarch butterflies’ numbers will drop. Pathogens borne by invasives are another challenge. In Eastern cities, the Dutch elm disease devastated the elms that lined many of Canada’s streets. Now, the Ash borer is following up in attacking the ash trees planted to replace elms.

Action: Government programs devoted to preventing the importation of exotics plants and animals exist. However, for example, only 2% of cargo entering the USA is inspected for potentially invasive species. The efforts to prevent must be augmented because the cost of managing or efforts of eradicating established invasive species is considerable. Early detection–rapid response programs become a critical element, especially if eradication is the management goal. The role of citizen scientists and their engagement in the management of invasive species is an important consideration. New apps providing identification and geo-referencing are a particularly good tool by which to engage the public. Awareness of this issue needs to be augmented.

7. WATER
Issue: Canada is blessed with freshwater abundance. Rivers and lakes provided the original transportation linkages across the country. Now water is critical to Industrial and commercial uses. The Canadian National Geographic estimated that the 2013 withdrawal of water for such use amounted to 37B cubic meters. Another important use of water or virtual water (water taken up by livestock and crops) is exported. A rough calculation has 95 trillion cubic meters of virtual water being exported, mostly to the USA.
Safe drinking sourced water continues to plague remote and indigenous communities.
The past free and unlimited access to water is coming to an end. Droughts in the prairies are now common. The water moving east and northward through the Prairie Provinces fed by glaciers and melting snowpack are at risk. Melting glaciers give a false sense of endless water but this notion is about to disappear along with the glaciers and downstream water. The 17,000 glaciers in British Columbia are estimated to be annually releasing water the equivalent of 8,300 football stadiums with seating of 60,000.
While human existence and commerce are dependent on water, it is equally critical for wildlife. The common prairie potholes filled with waterfowl are at risk. Droughts increase forest fire risk. Dust storms blowing away topsoil are also a possible outcome.

Action: Farming practices must incorporate these risks into the decision as to when and where to grow crops. Managing the mountain vegetation to assure that the ground can absorb rainfall must be a priority over timber returns. Excessive localized rainfalls are in our future and planning for these will avoid disastrous floods and assure a more continuous flow of water.

8. OCEANS
Issue: Canada has the largest coastline in the world. Its commitment to set aside areas for conservation is recognized globally and nationally. However, setting aside marine protected areas (MPA) without strict restrictions aimed at protecting biodiversity is not enough. While oil and gas exploration is mostly excluded from these areas, fishing other than bottom sea trawling is not truncated.

Action: Continue establishing more MPAs but with strict and expanded no-take zones to meet the global commitments of 25% by 2025 and 50% by 2050.

9. CONSUMERISM
Issue: Consumerism affects the environment in many ways from the input of energy and material and resulting waste. Production requires extraction and exploitation of natural resources and if not regulated may cause shortages that will limit future economic activity. Every product has an ecological footprint. The ecological footprint of a specified production is the area of land and water required for production and the assimilation of resulting wastes, wherever on Earth the relevant land and water may be located.
A further consideration is a reality that affluence has a higher CO2 emission per capita than poorer sectors. This applies to countries as much as individuals. On a country level, affluent countries are adopting environmental dumping where the rich buy products from poorer sectors who then get stuck with the pollution and waste.
Another issue is the ever-increasing built-in obsolescence of manufactured products.

Action: Industry, governments, and citizens need to come together to plan a way forward that reduces packaging, demand, and frivolous throwaway objects.

10. SOIL DEGRADATION
Issue: Soil degradation is the decline in soil condition caused by its improper use or poor management, usually for agricultural, industrial, or urban purposes. The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. It has led to increased pollution and sedimentation in streams and rivers, clogging these waterways and causing declines in fish and other species. Degraded lands are also often less able to hold onto water, which can worsen flooding. One estimate has soil degradation costing farmers about $3B per year which does not include the cost of fertilizer to compensate for the loss of productivity. Furthermore, the loss of fertility leads to less carbon sequestration and adds to the challenge of reducing greenhouse emissions.

Action: The federal government must invest in soil scientists and programs focused on how to help farmers improve practices and in general to assure soil health. The benefits for the agriculture community bottom line, for combating climate change, for assuring clarity of rivers and streams and in general for a better understanding of the importance of soil, equal to air and water, on which all life depends is worth the investment.

(Nik Lopoukhine retired in 2005 as Director General, National Parks, retired in 2012 from IUCN Council and was Chair of World Commission on Protected Areas, recipient of the 2012 CPAWS Harkin Award and the 2013 CCEA Gold Leaf Award and in 2014 was awarded the Brandwein Institute Medal.)