nature-based solutions

June 9 2020

CPAWS welcomes Prime Minister’s reaffirmation of federal commitments to protecting more of Canada’s land and ocean, and to nature-based climate solutions

Ottawa, Ont., June 9, 2020 – CPAWS welcomes the Prime Minister’s statements on World Environment Day (June 5, 2020) and World Oceans Day (June 8, 2020) that the Government of Canada is still committed to delivering on their promise to protect 25% of Canada’s land and ocean by 2025 and 30% by 2030 and to implement nature-based climate solutions. We are grateful that the health of the natural world is recognized by the federal government as essential to the well-being of Canadians, now and in the future.

As we tackle COVID-19, we must remember that the nature and climate change crises have not gone away, and must be addressed now to ensure a healthy, livable planet for our children and grandchildren. In fact, scientists have been quick to note that safeguarding nature is also critical to preventing future pandemics, making this work more important than ever.

Completing networks of well-designed and well-managed protected areas is key to reversing the on-going collapse of biodiversity. Destruction of habitat is the primary driver of biodiversity loss on land, and overexploitation is the primary driver in the ocean. Evidence shows that at least 30% and as much as 70% or more of ecosystems need to be protected to safeguard and restore the health of the planet. Conserving and restoring nature can also make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ecosystems, helps people and wildlife adapt to climate change.

During the current pandemic, nature has been more important than ever in the day-to-day lives of Canadians who have flocked to natural spaces seeking comfort, inspiration and hope . Putting nature at the heart of government priorities as we recover from COVID-19 and the associated economic crisis is essential to tackle the biodiversity and climate change crises, provide clean air, water and secure food sources, and will also support Canadians’ physical and mental health, contribute to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, and support jobs and our country’s economic well-being.

The federal government, in partnership with Indigenous governments, provinces, territories, NGOs and others, has made significant progress on nature conservation and climate action over the past four years. CPAWS urges all involved to redouble their efforts to deliver on these commitments, recognizing the multiple benefits that protecting and restoring our land and ocean will deliver to all Canadians, now and in the future.

Contact: media@cpaws.org

Join us in thanking the Prime Minister.

May 21 2020

Over 40 organizations call on Prime Minister to prioritize Natural Infrastructure as an integral part of Green Recovery

cpawsadmin News green recovery, nature-based solutions

Ottawa, May 21, 2020 – Forty-two groups came together to encourage Prime Minister Trudeau and key federal ministers to invest in natural infrastructure as a part of Canada’s COVID-19 recovery plan. In an open letter submitted on Thursday May 21st, the groups provide detailed recommendations for investment in natural infrastructure as an integral part of Canada’s economic recovery from the COVID crisis and its long-term resilience against the impending climate emergency.

The letter focuses on three key recommendations:

Get money moving by expediting funding to projects that are “shovel-ready” and “shovel-worthy,”;
Keep money moving by modifying existing programs to address current barriers for natural infrastructure projects; and
Sustain support over the long term by enabling integrated policy, programs and legislation, including the establishment of a dedicated natural infrastructure fund.

[Read the letter]

For more information, please contact:

Jennifer Scott
National Communications Manager
613-569-7226 x 234
jscott@cpaws.org

March 6 2020

101 Blog Series: Blue Carbon

cpawsadmin Blog marine, nature-based solutions

By: Anika Hazra, National Conservation Communications Coordinator

The role nature plays in mitigating the impacts of climate change is becoming more and more apparent, and the need to implement nature-based climate solutions is taking greater hold in the minds of scientists, conservationists and policymakers.

Trees are touted as a mechanism for storing excess carbon from the atmosphere, but they are not the only life form that does this. All types of plants take in carbon to survive, including those in marine habitats. In fact, marine plants are quite an effective form of carbon storage – as such, the term ‘blue carbon’ has come into existence in the conservation realm.

Science class refresher – the carbon cycle

In order to understand why blue carbon has become a climate action strategy, we need to understand how plants naturally remove carbon from the atmosphere as part of the carbon cycle.

If you remember your high school biology class, you may recall that plants produce the sugars they need for energy through photosynthesis. They take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as water and solar energy, to produce glucose (a simple sugar) and oxygen.

While plants take in carbon through photosynthesis, they also release carbon back into the atmosphere through cellular respiration – a process used to transform glucose into usable energy.

Carbon is a building block for all living things, and is constantly cycled between the biosphere and the atmosphere to sustain life on Earth – with around 83% of cycled carbon going through the ocean.

Carbon is also stored in organic waste and dead organisms, which turn into fossil fuels after millions of years of decomposition deep below the surface. The use of fossil fuels, land-use changes and industrial processes are major sources of carbon dioxide emissions, causing the global climate to shift.

Many people are aware of the role of burning fossil fuels in climate change, but another important source of carbon dioxide emissions is the degradation of ecosystems that store carbon, including marine ecosystems.

What is ‘carbon sequestration’?

If plants both take in and release carbon, are they actually storing it? While plants take in a lot of carbon dioxide to create the sugars they need, they release about a third of that carbon dioxide to produce energy. All in all, plants sequester, or hold on to, more carbon than they release, making them a carbon sink.

So, what makes carbon ‘blue’?

‘Blue carbon’ is carbon captured by the world’s coastal ecosystems. These marine ecosystems include seagrass meadows, tidal wetlands, salt marshes and mangroves.

While coastal ecosystems like seagrass meadows and tidal wetlands cover much less area than forests, they capture three to five times more carbon, and store it for much longer.

The key to such effective carbon storage is the sediments and plant root systems of these ecosystems; around half of the world’s blue carbon is stored in coastal ecosystem sediments.

Protecting blue carbon sinks

There’s a strong case for keeping marine ecosystems intact, considering just how much carbon they remove from the atmosphere in comparison to other ecosystems. For example, one hectare of a salt marsh can store the amount of carbon emitted by 488 cars per year.

However, destructive human activities cause the carbon stored in marine ecosystems to be released. It is estimated that around 1.02 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are released each year from the degradation of coastal ecosystems alone – they are one the most threatened ecosystems, with hundreds of thousands of hectares destroyed each year! In addition, marine ecosystems don’t sequester carbon as effectively when they are degraded, making their protection of even greater importance.

The ability of marine ecosystems to continue storing excess carbon from the atmosphere is also dependent on how climate change will impact them. These impacts can be quite complex, and can vary from one marine ecosystem to another – and even from one species to another within the same ecosystem.

Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems not only allows for carbon storage – these ecosystems also provide other services, like protection from storms and flooding, preventing shoreline erosion and providing nurseries for fish.

The protection of marine environments, especially coastal ecosystems, offers an effective solution for climate change mitigation that should be explored in addition to solutions currently in practice.

References:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2vbb9q/revision/3

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/CarbonCycle

https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/blue-carbon

https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/file/changing-climate-ch2.pdf

https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/photosynthetic-cells-14025371/

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bluecarbon.html

https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/nature/science/climat-climate/carbone-carbon

https://scied.ucar.edu/carbon-cycle

https://serc.si.edu/research/laboratories/biogeochemistry/projects/blue-carbon

https://www.thebluecarboninitiative.org/

https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/video/blue-carbon

January 14 2020

Nature-Based Climate Solutions: A Summit in Ottawa

cpawsadmin Blog climate change, nature-based solutions, Summit

Written by: Anika Hazra, National Conservation Communications Coordinator and Florence Daviet, National Forest Program Director

What do draining wetlands, cutting trees and burning coal have in common?

If you guessed emitting greenhouse gases that cause climate change, you are correct.

If you guessed harming biodiversity, you are also correct.

Last year, youth from around the world came out in unprecedented numbers to call attention to the impact of climate change on our planet. In this great video, Greta Thunberg points out how nature-based climate solutions – actions with both a climate and biodiversity benefit – can make a difference.

Here in Canada, nature-based climate solutions are finally on the agenda, and it’s time to decide how to implement them. To get the ball rolling, representatives from NGOs, Indigenous groups, businesses and government and will gather at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on February 5-6 for a Nature-Based Climate Solutions Summit.

From Big Ideas to Big Action

What’s the big idea? With 12 partner organizations, CPAWS is working to bring together thought leaders on climate change and biodiversity policy to develop a roadmap for implementing nature-based climate solutions.

Summit participants will discuss nature-based climate solutions from different angles, digging deeper on the role of Canadian ecosystems – forests, wetlands, grasslands and even the ocean – in addressing climate change. Participants will also consider different approaches for implementing nature-based climate solutions, such as carbon pricing, forest management regulations, protected areas, ecosystem adaptation and restoration and Indigenous-led solutions.

Florence Daviet, CPAWS’ National Forest Program Director, will be leading a working session discussing solutions best suited for Canadian forests, as well as a working session on carbon pricing and offsets with Amanda Reed from Nature United.

It’s the beginning of a new year, and with it comes the opportunity to tackle some of the world’s biggest issues with renewed energy. Here’s to 2020 being the year where we make the connection between nature and climate change!

Learn more and register for the summit: https://www.naturebasedclimatesolutions.ca/

Read our climate report: https://bit.ly/39ApoVW

Read our recommendation to the Federal government for a Nature-Based Climate Solutions Fund: https://bit.ly/2QB8Apg

January 7 2020

Bridging the Gap with Nature-Based Climate Solutions

cpawsadmin Blog climate change, nature-based solutions

Written By: Anika Hazra, National Conservation Communications Coordinator

Climate change has been highlighted in many news stories lately, along with studies documenting declines in wildlife around the world. At the end of 2019, a story about the loss of more than 3 billion birds in North America since the 1970’s caught the public’s attention – and that is just one of many articles. The bad news cycle for the environment can be overwhelming, but the key to understanding and resolving these massive issues is to recognize they are connected and can thus be tackled at once. The common denominator for climate change and biodiversity loss is ecosystem degradation. Birds disappear with their habitat – forests, wetlands and grasslands – and greenhouse gases (GHGs) are emitted when ecosystems are destroyed.

How do we kill two birds with one stone? Nature-based climate solutions! If paired with significant reductions in fossil fuel emissions, nature-based climate solutions have the potential to help us limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Setting the Stage for Natural Infrastructure

In August 2019, CPAWS published a climate change report, Finding Common Ground: Six Steps for Tackling Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss in Canada, urging Canada’s federal leaders to look into using nature-based climate solutions to reduce GHG emissions, slow biodiversity loss and mitigate the impacts of climate change. We made the case that Canada is well-positioned to start taking concrete steps to address climate change and biodiversity loss. As part of that roadmap, we also highlighted the role of a nature-based climate solutions fund that is specifically meant for piloting innovative solutions that address both biodiversity loss and climate change.

Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees

In September 2019, the Liberal party committed to creating a $3 Billion fund (for disbursement over 10 years) to reduce Canada’s emissions by 30 Megatonnes by 2030 as part of their election platform – this would be achieved through the management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems. This fund could help meet Canada meet the 2030 climate targets and, if managed correctly, also help address the degradation and loss of species habitat, which is the number one reason for the decline of wildlife in Canada. The Liberal party’s plan to work with nature to fight climate change is outlined in a backgrounder.

With a new government in place, CPAWS is looking forward to seeing a shift towards making use of innovative climate change solutions. Immediate action is required to mitigate the impacts of climate change, and protecting Canada’s ecosystems is an effective measure we can take right now.

August 29 2019

CPAWS report calls on Federal government to step up climate action through nature-based solutions

cpawsadmin Climate Change Campaigns, Conservation Reports, News climate, nature-based solutions, report

OTTAWA, Ont., August 29, 2019 – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) today unveiled its report, Finding Common Ground: Six steps for tackling climate change and biodiversity loss in Canada, providing a high-level roadmap for policy makers to harness ecosystem conservation and deliver win-win climate and biodiversity benefits by 2030.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are among the most pressing challenges facing global society and the natural world. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are produced and wildlife habitat is degraded when land is cleared through activities such as deforestation. This degradation also reduces the ability of ecosystems to protect us from floods and other environmental disasters.

Florence Daviet, National Forest Program Director at CPAWS and author of the report, points out that many of the proposed steps could be taken immediately, such as the creation of a nature-based climate solutions fund. “CPAWS is calling for a billion-dollar fund for developing and implementing projects that would reduce GHG emissions from land-use change and ecosystem degradation while benefitting biodiversity,” says Daviet. “We also need to address the fundamental drivers of land-use change and degradation if such solutions are to be sustainable. This fund would spark the type of innovative and collaborative work needed.”

Beyond the fund, the report focuses on how other climate policy strategies could be applied in the coming years: setting caps on GHG emissions produced by ecosystem degradation and expanding the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to include the largest contributors to these emissions.

Dale Marshall, National Program Manager at Environmental Defence, says, “The fund would be a great start, but ultimately we need to systematically change how we manage our lands in order to contribute solutions to the twin challenges of climate change and the loss of species and ecosystems. Hopefully this paper starts a conversation on how we can do that.”

Making nature count in climate policy
It is important to note that the major challenge in attempting to resolve biodiversity loss and climate change simultaneously is that not all conservation measures will result in GHG emissions reductions, and not all climate change solutions will benefit biodiversity. The federal government needs to recognize that ecosystems can provide long-term benefits for biodiversity and climate mitigation despite this challenge and unpredictable environmental events.

“We are building a strong body of knowledge on these issues in Canada. We know Canadians understand our ecosystems are a vital part of the fabric of our country; their protection is key for wildlife conservation and climate change mitigation. It’s time for us to pull this lever and start managing our ecosystems with both issues clearly in mind,” says Daviet.

Finding Common Ground: Six steps for tackling climate change and biodiversity loss in Canada
Read the full report here.

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For more information, please contact:

Danielle Tremblay
National Director of Communications, CPAWS
dtremblay@cpaws.org | 613-569-7226 ext. 232

Florence Daviet
National Director, Forest Program, CPAWS
fdaviet@cpaws.org | 613-569-7226 ext. 220

About Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is Canada’s only nationwide charity dedicated solely to the protection of our public land, ocean and freshwater, and ensuring our parks and protected areas are managed to protect nature. In the past 56 years, we have played a leading role in protecting over half a million square kilometres – an area bigger than the entire Yukon Territory! Our vision is to protect at least half of Canada’s public land and water – for the benefit of both wildlife and people.