{"id":55636,"date":"2022-12-02T12:31:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T17:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=55636"},"modified":"2022-12-02T12:34:34","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T17:34:34","slug":"canadian-environmental-groups-call-for-ambitious-global-and-national-action-to-save-nature-before-its-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/55636\/canadian-environmental-groups-call-for-ambitious-global-and-national-action-to-save-nature-before-its-too-late\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>Canadian environmental groups call for ambitious global and national action to save nature before it\u2019s too late<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Montreal \u2013&nbsp;<\/strong>In the leadup to the UN\u2019s COP15 (NatureCOP), 17 Canadian environmental organizations are calling on Canadian and world leaders to deliver a win for the future of people and the planet by landing a new global deal to save nature, and committing to a national action plan to achieve this at home.<\/p>\n\n<p>Nature is in crisis because of the ongoing rampant destruction of land and ocean ecosystems, as well as the catastrophic effects of climate change.<\/p>\n\n<p>Nature loss is an environmental and social issue that threatens the health of people and the planet alike. Global wildlife populations have plummeted by nearly 70% in the last 50 years due primarily to habitat loss while communities continue to lose access to life-sustaining resources including food, clean air to breathe, and drinkable water.<\/p>\n\n<p>On the heels of COP27 (ClimateCOP) in Egypt, the connection between climate change and biodiversity loss \u2013 two of the biggest crises we currently face \u2013 is finally being recognized. Climate change is one of the top three drivers of biodiversity loss, while biodiversity loss makes ecosystems increasingly vulnerable to climate change. With each crisis exacerbating the other, solutions are needed to address both simultaneously and quickly \u2013 before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n<p>Implementing an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework and Canadian Biodiversity Action Plan can transform the world and halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. A whole-of-government and whole-of society approach is needed for both these plans to deliver the transformational change needed to live in harmony with nature and address the environmental injustices that harm nature and people.<\/p>\n\n<p>Many of the opportunities to protect land and ocean in Canada are led by Indigenous Peoples, and supporting Indigenous-led conservation is an essential part of reconciliation. Respecting the sovereignty and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and supporting Indigenous-led conservation must be at the centre of any plan to save nature.<\/p>\n\n<p>We need to halt and reverse nature loss now for the future of people and the planet. There is no time to wait. NatureCOP is a historic moment where global leaders must agree on a new plan to ensure the full recovery of nature and sustain healthy societies into the future. Canada must take action at home to do the same.<\/p>\n\n<p>To achieve this, the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Canadian Action Plan must include requirements to:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples\u2019 rights, knowledge, and conservation leadership<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Effectively protect at least 30% of land and ocean by 2030 in well-connected networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, ensuring Indigenous rights are respected<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strengthen actions to recover species at risk and restore degraded ecosystems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sustainably manage resource-based and extractive industries including agriculture, forestry, fisheries and mining across the entire land and seascape<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Put biodiversity at the forefront of decision-making across governments and societies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strengthen accountability measures to support implementation, including creating stronger laws in Canada<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Invest adequate financial resources, including repurposing subsidies harmful to nature, and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promote equitable access to nature for all people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Canadian environmental groups are calling on the Government of Canada to seize this historic moment at NatureCOP by showing leadership at home and globally by committing to an ambitious new plan and action to stop nature loss and support a healthy, sustainable environment across our society.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quotes<\/h2>\n\n<p>\u201cVital and vulnerable natural landscapes across Canada need stewarding through community-based conservation efforts, such as land trusts which provide significant nature-based climate solutions through the protection and restoration of carbon-rich habitats. Canada also needs a network of protected spaces with corridors to safeguard critical habitats for species at risk and to take meaningful steps towards conserving 30% of land by 2030.\u201d Renata Woodward, Acting Executive Director,&nbsp;<strong>Alliance of Canadian Land Trusts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a critical moment for birds, biodiversity and our planet. Canada can demonstrate leadership by committing to an ambitious biodiversity strategy which mobilizes people across Canada to protect the most important places for birds thereby halting the declines of species and ensuring a healthy environment for all Canadians.\u201d Patrick Nadeau, CEO,&nbsp;<strong>Birds Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cCOP15 in Montreal is a moment of choices. We can either agree to restore our broken relationship with nature or continue on the suicidal path that\u2019s destroying wildlife and letting pollution kill millions every year. The legacy of this COP15 must be agreeing to a Global Biodiversity Framework that holds polluters and governments accountable and contributes to heal a broken planet.\u201d Eddy P\u00e9rez, International Climate Diplomacy Director,&nbsp;<strong>Climate Action Network Canada<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cProtecting at least 30% of land and ocean globally and in Canada is a critical and achievable step towards halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Canada can achieve this important target and demonstrate true global leadership if federal, provincial and territorial governments all recognize and prioritize support for Indigenous-led conservation across the country.\u201d Sandra Schwartz, National Executive Director,&nbsp;<strong>Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><br>\u201cCanada needs to conserve and value nature across the landscapes where people live, work and play. Governments cannot do this alone. We need a new strong set of actions for all Canadians to play their part in halting and reversing biodiversity loss.\u201d Rick Bates, CEO,&nbsp;<strong>Canadian Wildlife Federation<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cNatureCOP is a historic moment where we have an opportunity to halt and reverse nature loss now, for people and the planet. To sustain healthy societies in the future, global leaders must agree to support nature\u2019s full recovery. Canada must also create an ambitious plan and ensure all levels of government do their part.\u201d Jay Ritchlin, Director General, Western Canada and Nature Programs,<strong>&nbsp;David Suzuki Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cTo ensure that Canada\u2019s biodiversity targets are meaningful, we need national legislation that sets timelines and holds government accountable for achieving them. It is equally critical that the legislation promotes the rights of Indigenous communities and recognizes their jurisdiction in protecting nature.\u201d Joshua Ginsberg, Lawyer,&nbsp;<strong>Ecojustice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cCanada\u2019s rich biodiversity endowment gives it a particular responsibility to protect and steward nature. Our country has the longest coastline, 20 per cent of Earth\u2019s wild forests, 24 per cent of its wetlands and almost one-third of its land-stored carbon within its borders. Canada\u2019s forest, tundra and wetland ecosystems are home to the largest remaining natural terrestrial mammal migration, the Caribou, and provide habitat for billions of nesting birds. Canada must prevent the biodiversity harms that polluters are creating, and address the loss and damage experienced by Indigenous people across the planet and on these lands.\u201d Cassie Barker, Toxics Senior Program Manager,&nbsp;<strong>Environmental Defence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThe extinction crisis is here. This is no time for half measures. We need strong action, better laws to protect nature and wildlife, and an end to Canada\u2019s colonial approach to land.\u201d Reykia Fick, Nature and Food Campaigner,&nbsp;<strong>Greenpeace Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cCanada has made ambitious commitments to expand protected areas, promote nature-based climate solutions and halt and reverse nature loss. This is the kind of vision for nature that we need in the world. COP15 provides an opportunity for Canada to help build the momentum for a new global agreement on biodiversity and lead by example at home. We need a comprehensive national action plan to halt nature loss that includes not only the protection of land and ocean, but the restoration of threatened ecosystems and wildlife populations, and an end to government subsidies that harm nature.\u201d Graham Saul, Executive Director,&nbsp;<strong>Nature Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThe dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are locked into accelerating feedback loops, and one of the best ways to break that cycle is by reversing nature loss. With much of the world\u2019s remaining intact nature here in Canada, we have a global responsibility to protect, restore and steward it \u2014 and a national responsibility to ensure this is done in a rights-driven way that recognizes and supports Indigenous knowledge, governance and priorities.\u201d James Snider, VP \u2013 Science, Knowledge and Innovation,&nbsp;<strong>WWF-Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWe all want a future that includes nature. That can start with Canada\u2019s leadership at COP15. It should continue with commitments and funding of key solutions such as implementing 30\u00d730, increasing landscape connectivity and supporting Indigenous-led conservation. Canada is already home to models that work, including the large landscape vision in the Yellowstone to Yukon region \u2014 we need more such ambition.\u201d Jodi Hilty, President and Chief Scientist,&nbsp;<strong>Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contact<\/h3>\n\n<p>Stacy Corneau<br>(613) 620 \u2013 2592<br><a href=\"mailto:corneau.stacy@gmail.com\">corneau.stacy@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the leadup to the UN\u2019s COP15 (NatureCOP), 17 Canadian environmental organizations are calling on Canadian and world leaders to deliver a win for the future of people and the planet by landing a new global deal to save nature, and committing to a national action plan to achieve this at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":52035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[27],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-55636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-forests","p4-page-type-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55636"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55640,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55636\/revisions\/55640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55636"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=55636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}