In December 2012, Canada became the first signatory
nation to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Accord, an agreement between nations to
limit and reduce greenhouse gases. This
follows a long line of negative global publicity that the Canadian government
has taken when it comes to global environmental issues. In reading and researching
Canada’s role as an environmental advocate, it can become disheartening, however,
Canada is not just sitting back and
doing nothing.
In this article, we explore what Canada is doing when it comes to several key
areas of the environment. Instead of
focusing on the negative, we want to know, what role is Canada taking
domestically and internationally to deal with environmental issues and climate
change? How are these initiatives being
achieved? Have they had any
success? In this piece, we dig deeper to
find those areas of environmental action that are positive!
Air
The quality of Canada’s air has long been something to be
proud of, especially with the amount of wilderness Canada has. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)
was established in 2005 in order to help people understand how air quality can
affect their health and how to protect themselves from long term damage. This
is a scale between 1 and 10 can be easily found with real time information. The
risk level varies from low (1) to high (10+) and the index provides information
on who is most at risk during that time.
The AQHI
was established to do much more than provide information to people, it also
provides information to researchers and government organizations. This allows them to trend air quality
patterns in order to understand how Canadian air changes over time, which
regions of the country are worst, and what can be done about it.
As per the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, all
industries are required to provide reports on their air pollution. This is done through the Environment Canada
and is made available for Canadians through the National
Pollutant Release Inventory.
As a signatory to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, Canada is also required to make this
information available to the UN.
Climate Change
In 2009, Canada signed the Copenhagen Accord,
where reduction targets in greenhouse gases were set for 17% below 2005 levels.
This is to be reached by 2020. In order to reach this goal, several initiatives
are required in multiple industries, regions of the country, and in the
changing of societal views. The
government of Canada has contributed to several individual projects, such as
carbon capture and storage at the Boundary Dam in Saskatchewan to a mandate for
all gasoline to have 5% minimum renewable fuel.
The majority of Canada’s contributions are based in
investments and the funding of individual programs; however, legislative
changes have occurred as well. In late
2010, Canada supported the Cancun Agreement on
climate change as well as the Durban Platform in
late 2011. All in all, between 2005 and 2010, the Canadian economy grew 6.3%
while greenhouse gas emissions fell 6.5%. As of August 2012, Canada reached the
halfway mark of attaining their goal as stated in the Copenhagen Accord.
Enforcement
Canada’s Environmental Enforcement Act
became active in late 2010 and serves three purposes. First, it has consolidated six previous acts
into one bill for more rapid and efficient act of the law. Second, it has amended fines and sentencing guidelines
to become more stringent and deterrent based.
Finally, through this Act, Canada has created partnerships within
domestic enforcement agencies and with those around the world including the United
States Environmental Protection Agency and Interpol
in order to crack down on larger scale acts of environmental polluting or
terrorism.
Nature
In late 2012, a survey was initiated by the Government of
Canada through the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy. As in other Canadian initiatives, the
government is working towards an understanding of what Canadians know about the
areas of wilderness in the country. This
includes understanding personal leisure behaviours such as camping, hunting,
and fishing in both urban and rural areas.
Canada’s goal on biodiversity is to protect habits and
species within them. This is managed in
conjunction with enabling our wilderness areas to be accessible to those who
choose to use them and experience their beauty under what is known as Access
and Benefit sharing. Canada’s signing of
the Convention
of Biological Diversity is meant to protect natural habits for
specifically this purpose, especially as biotechnology companies increase
pressure on governments to extract from these areas.
Pollution and
Waste
In 2012, Canada released a study that examined pollution
in the air, water, and land between 2006 and 2010. Through reduction policies
that target the manufacturing sector and natural resource industries, total
pollutant annual releases have decreased 19% during this period. The Federal Action Plan of Pollution
Prevention also has worked with specific large corporations in
finding ways for them to reduce pollution to the environment while maintaining business
sustainability.
Science and
Technology
Canada is constantly investing is all areas of science
and technology in order to preserve and maintain environmental goals. While their involvement in this area is not
direct, their funding of private programs has had a significant impact on the
betterment of Canada’s environment.
Projects that have received funding include:- $281 million for clean energy,
- $500 million in helping new construction projects reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and
- $1.2 billion for environmental development in developing nations.
What is even more positive about Canada’s investment
strategy is that it is truly global. By
investing in developing nations, Canada is helping others to benefit from new
and emerging technologies.
Sustainable
Development
Sustainable development has become one of the main
components of any environmental strategy, whether you are an individual or a
government. This means acting based on
the needs of today without sacrificing future generations. On June 16, 2011, Canada released its first
ever Progress Report on the Federal
Sustainable Development Strategy.
This was the first step as outlined in the Federal Sustainable Development Act, passed in
2010, to show what is needed to be done in Canada in terms of setting up a
foundation for sustainable development.
This is an area that is still in its infancy stages in
Canada. However, the Act and subsequent
report shows that action is being taken to outline areas of need. Movement towards individual implementation
plans have not yet occurred but are underway.
Water
Protecting Canada’s fresh water is not just a domestic
issue; it is a global issue. Canada has over 7% of the entire world’s fresh
water reserves, the most out of any single country. We are also the only nation to border three
separate oceans, which means a necessary action plan for these as well.
Canada has constructed more than 3,000 sites across the
country that measures our waterways for physical, chemical, and biological
characteristics. The goal is to know about any changes immediately so that action
can be taken if issues arise. This is a part of the Action Plan for Clean Water.
The Oceans Action Plan
sets out to protect our oceans and all marine species contains within
them. Right now, we are in Phase I of
this plan. This is meant to deal with issues of overfishing, international
management, and the creation of specific action plans for regions including the
Scotian Shelf, Pacific North Coast, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and many more. Once
the research has been completed (a 2 year project), work can begin on
sustainable development, protection, and preservation.
Canada’s Future
Role in the Environment
Canada will continue to adhere to its goals as set in the
Copenhagen Accord. While the nation has just passed the halfway
mark toward reaching emissions of 17% below 2005 levels, there is still much
work to do before the 2020 deadline. This will involve more investment into
technologies and initiatives in the private sector. Canada’s Environmental
Emergencies Fund, established from fines taken from enforcement policing, is
also helping to deal with unaccounted for events in order to mitigate or
minimize environmental concerns.
The majority of policies and initiatives mentioned here
are in their stages of infancy. Most are
within two years old and have only have initial planning stages completed. It will remain interesting to see how
implementation takes place and what its effects will be!
