Canadians are nature lovers. Many of us have a deep connection with a corner of nature in our vast country. A bond that we have developed because of our closeness to nature, during walks in the forest, paddling on a river or simply contemplating the seaside. Canada offers us nature in all its forms, from the mountains to the ancient trees, from rivers to tundra.
I grew up in a small town in northern Quebec and the forest was my garden, my playground. At the age of five, I was climbing a tree to protect the forest in my backyard from developers, my environmental activist mission was taking shape.
Nature is at the heart of the Canadian identity, it is our international reputation and it is a source of pride.
But everywhere nature is threatened. This month, the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Living Planet 2022 report showed that global wildlife populations have declined by 69% since 1970, with 20% in North America.
Canada not only has the longest coastline in the world, but also 24% of the boreal forest, 25% of the temperate forest, 25% of the wetlands, two million lakes and the third largest area of glaciers on the planet.
It is therefore fitting that Canada is hosting the largest United Nations conference on biodiversity in decades next December, in order to address the challenges facing ecosystems. Our mission is guided by progress, protection and collaboration.
COP15, that of biodiversity, will be an opportunity for thousands of foreign delegates from 196 countries to meet in Montreal to make new commitments aimed at better protecting natural environments and endangered species.
Progress is never fast enough. One million species are on the verge of extinction. Ecosystems are disappearing, threatening freshwater supplies and the climate. Nature protection and the fight against climate change are linked. The call to protect nature must receive the same attention that the climate receives.
At home, we are on track to achieve our 30/30 goal, so that 30% of the land and 30% of our oceans will be protected by 2030. That’s ambitious, but remember that in 2015, when we took power, only 1% of our oceans were protected. Today, 14% are. This is proof that we can do it! To achieve our goal, we launched the largest conservation campaign in Canadian history and made available to the provinces and territories several billion dollars. We will continue in this direction.
We also intend to show ambition by protecting sentinel species, those which, like the canary in the mine, sound the alarm about the health of our ecosystems. Targeted actions will be announced in Montreal during the biodiversity COP, but we already know that the caribou cannot wait any longer and that we must concert our efforts to enable their protection.
This protection of biodiversity must be done in partnership with indigenous peoples, taking into account their ancestral knowledge. This teamwork with indigenous peoples must take root in Canada, but also elsewhere in the world, because too often and for too long they have been sidelined.
Canada has ambitious goals for this conference, as it does nationally.
First, we must convince all countries to make firm commitments so as to halt the loss of biodiversity so that, by 2030, we can see its recovery.
Commitments are needed to ensure that 30% of the world’s land and oceans are protected by 2030. Indeed, according to scientific research, this conservation threshold represents the minimum necessary to face the biodiversity and climate crises. . The geographically largest countries, those which are home to vast natural areas essential to the regulation of our climate and which serve as habitats for many species, will have to make efforts commensurate with their situation.
Finally, all actors—governments, the private sector, philanthropy, and multilateral institutions—will need to mobilize and provide the resources needed to achieve our goals.
These three goals will only be achieved if global collaboration is established.
Nature knows no boundaries. We are all in the same boat.
The Biodiversity COP is an opportunity for Canada to prove to the world that we can do our part, coast to coast, to protect biodiversity. We invite the world to join us in protecting our ally, nature.
From the Monarch to the Rockies, the environment shapes us. Our world is under threat, we are under threat, but together we can build a true and sustainable future for our planet.