Prime Minister Mark Carney admires the natural scenery in Wakefield, Que., on March 31 after announcing funding for his government's new nature strategy.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Stewart Elgie is Jarislowsky Chair in Clean Economy and Innovation at the University of Ottawa.
Prime Minister Mark Carney released his long-awaited nature strategy recently. Given his laser focus on growth – to fend off U.S. economic aggression – there was concern that nature would take a back seat. Quite the opposite.
The plan charts a bold course to conserve the health of Canada’s forests, fields and waters, and support the people and industries that depend on them.
Here are five big things to like about Canada’s new nature strategy.
First, the plan commits to meeting Canada’s global conservation goals: halting and reversing biodiversity loss, and protecting 30 per cent of our lands and waters by 2030. It also sets a path to get there by creating dozens of new protected and conserved areas across the country, many Indigenous-led, backed by $3.8-billion in federal funding.
Ottawa lays out path to protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030
Second, Mr. Carney’s strategy says that protecting and restoring nature is “the foundation of our economy, sovereignty and well-being.”
That is fundamentally different from the current approach in the United States. The Trump administration has moved to roll back protections for endangered species, wetlands and streams, and opened up vast areas of protected land to development.
President Donald Trump sees nature conservation as an impediment to economic growth. Mr. Carney sees our natural capital – rich soils, clean water, healthy forests and ecosystems – as the foundation of our prosperity.
And he is right.
Globally, more than half of all GDP – roughly US$58-trillion – depends on nature and the services it provides, from pollination and water filtration to climate regulation.
Canada is no exception. From farms and forestry to fisheries and infrastructure, our economy relies on resilient ecosystems.
Nature is also vital to national security. Biodiversity loss threatens food and water security, endangers economic stability and heightens geopolitical risk as competition for scarce resources intensifies. The World Economic Forum ranks biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as the second greatest global risk over the next decade.
Carney rightly sees Canada's natural capital, from healthy forests to clean water, as foundational to prosperity, writes Stewart Elgie.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Third, the strategy says Canada will encourage major development projects to be nature-positive. This is critical.
This means projects will mitigate their environmental effects as far as possible, and invest in offsite restoration or conservation so that, overall, ecosystems are left better off. The goal is for economic development and nature conservation to go hand in hand.
That is ambitious but doable. Britain now legally requires most new developments to deliver a net gain for biodiversity. And Australia just passed a similar law. In the U.S., federal wetland, water and wildlife laws have long required “no net loss” of habitat from development; the result has been faster project approvals and about US$5-billion annually invested in nature restoration and conservation.
Canada should follow suit. But Ottawa can’t do this alone. It requires a Team Canada approach, since provinces and Indigenous nations have substantial authority over resource and economic development. Mr. Carney’s strategy promises to lead by example, using federal powers over fisheries, impact assessment and species at risk to reduce delays and promote nature-positive outcomes by projects.
This could also be a competitive advantage. In a global marketplace increasingly focused on environmental performance, a “nature-positive” brand could strengthen demand for Canadian resources and products.
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Fourth, the strategy has a major focus on attracting private investment. That is smart.
Currently, nearly 90 per cent of worldwide investment in conserving nature comes from governments and philanthropy. Those sources are tapped out. Meeting global targets to halt and reverse nature loss will require hundreds of billions of dollars in additional annual investment – and most must come from private capital.
To that end, Canada’s plan to create a Nature Protection Fund to leverage private investment is important. So is the commitment to create an expert Task Force on Natural Capital Accounting and Nature Financing. This is much-needed. It should include Canadian and global experts who understand both private finance and how smart policies, tools and incentives can unleash nature investment.
Last but not least, the strategy recognizes the importance of leadership by Indigenous nations, whose stewardship has sustained Canada’s ecosystems for millennia.
It expands support for Indigenous Guardians and Indigenous-led conservation – one of the most effective ways to protect nature and advance reconciliation. We also should invest more in Indigenous-led land-use planning, to build sustainability blueprints and give greater certainty to developers.
Canada can, and must, lead the way in building a strong, nature-smart economy.
We are a stable, wealthy democracy with abundant resources, a well-educated workforce and more intact nature than any place on Earth. If Canada can’t show the world how to do it right, who can?