The Biospheres of Tomorrow
Canada’s commitment to sustainability
By Stuart Ferguson
Within Canada, efforts have been taking place to encourage the legislation and adoption of eco-friendly programs, such as the elimination of single-use plastics, and the introduction of recycling and composting programs.
Canada is also trying to preserve land and sea territories in accordance with the principles set by the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), which was held in Montreal in December 2022.
Despite the best efforts of the federal and provincial government to push conservation forward, the slow adoption has caused the decline of many species within the grasslands of Alberta.
Members of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity have met since 1994, acting as a way for government leaders around the world to unify under a treaty that pushes towards the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable development, and the equitable sharing of the benefits that stem from their efforts. The most recent Conference of the Parties was held in Montreal in December, 2022, where Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, witnessed the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (COP15).
The main focus of the framework is to reduce human-related extinction, to increase the abundance of native wild species, to protect the genetic diversity of domesticated and wild species, and to increase the area of natural ecosystems all by the year 2050.
Other goals live in the same vein: to support sustainable development for future generations, to share genetic sequences and traditional knowledge equitably, and to help developing countries bridge the financing gap needed to achieve the framework in their territories. While the majority of these goals are aimed at the year 2050, there are a number of high priority goals which are scheduled for 2030, such as reducing the loss of areas that hold high biodiversity importance, while respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, and the protection and restoration of at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, coastal and marine areas.
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Proportion of area conserved, by ecozone, Canada, 2021
CREDIT: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2021)
Slow as Molasses
This is not the only time that Canada has taken steps to try and tackle the problem of biodiversity, however. Over a decade ago, the Conference of Parties 10 (COP10) was held in Nagoya Aichi Prefecture, Japan in order to adopt the Aichi Biodiversity Targets — a framework which was meant to take aim at a majority of issues already being worked upon in the current modern framework just enacted in December. The meeting was held in 2010 and the targets didn’t see much progress until 2015, already five years into the plan.
Within Canada, the Aichi targets ultimately failed to achieve its role in reversing the loss of biodiversity. The current framework does not specify how much of any particular province should be protected, instead relegating the responsibility to each provincial government to reach that elusive 30 per cent. Data from 2021 shows that the efforts across the country are widely imbalanced, with some provinces lagging behind the rest and others taking the charge.
Compared to other provinces, Alberta is fifth when it comes to conservation areas with the metric of 15.4 per cent. The leader in our country, at the moment, is British Columbia with 19.6 per cent of the territory presently conserved. The prairies within Alberta and Saskatchewan are only 6.1 per cent conserved.
Proportion of terrestrial area conserved, by province and territory, Canada, 2021
CREDIT: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2021)
Regardless of the approach, it seems that with these biodiversity promises, the country struggles to meet its own expectations by moving its goalposts into the future while biodiversity continues to decline.
Giving Government the Green Thumb
Among other goals listed in the framework, one that has been effectively implemented so far has been Target 7, which attempts to reduce pollution to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity through nutrient cycling, the limitation of chemical uses through pesticides, and the elimination of plastic pollution.
A strong consideration for Alberta is the agricultural sector which employs liberal use of pesticides and fertilizers, that in turn can cause issues with local waterways. The Bow River, for example, has previously had issues with fecal bacteria, algae blooms, and bacterias like giardia and whirling disease.
A chart comparing Total Coliforms from 2020-2023 from various points in the Bow River.
CREDIT: Riverwatch
Despite the issues with the current approach taken by provincial governments, the federal government has come out with the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, which invests $4 billion into various projects over the next decade, including the 2 Billion Trees Program, The Nature Smart Climate Solutions, and Agriculture Climate Solutions. The program is open for funding applications including Indigenous-led partnerships.
While it is too soon to say that Canada will reach its goals in 2025, 2030, or even 2050, it does appear that significant funding and effort is going into correcting the course of biodiversity loss.
