Question Period Note: Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy

The Government of Canada has committed to working towards halting and reversing nature loss in Canada by 2030 and achieving a full recovery for nature by 2050.

• Nature is core to Canada’s identity. The Government of Canada is committed to protect more of Canada’s nature than ever before through the creation of new national parks, national urban parks, marine protected areas, and other conservation initiatives.
• The Government of Canada is taking bold action, as outlined in Canada’s Nature Strategy, to protect the natural environment that helps define our country and sustain our communities and economy.
• Supported by Canada’s new Secretary of State for Nature, and in collaboration with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners, we are working toward conserving 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030 as agreed to in the historic Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy was released in June 2024 and sets out a national framework to guide actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss across all levels of government and all sectors, charting a path for how Canada will implement the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). It includes federal implementation plans for each of the 23 KMGBF targets; a domestic biodiversity monitoring framework to track and report on progress; perspectives authored by National Indigenous Organizations; and provincial and territorial profiles highlighting their current and planned initiatives.

The Strategy builds on existing initiatives in all regions and sectors across the country and recognizes that these efforts have not been and will not be enough, as biodiversity continues to decline in Canada. A whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach built on partnership and collaboration is required to harness the transformative change needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The Strategy requires us to address the challenges that have held us back, rethink the paradigms and systems that led us to this situation of declining biodiversity in Canada, and find new ways of doing things, of working together, and of financing our efforts.

The 23 targets covered in the Strategy represent an integrated package where each is critical to the success of the whole. Addressing targets in isolation will be inefficient and ineffective; rather, the Strategy strives to take a holistic approach that advances multiple priorities in parallel, maximizes co-benefits, and seeks to navigate trade-offs.

Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy long-term vision for 2050 is: Nature is healthy, thriving, and sustaining and enriching the lives of current and future generations, and all Canadians have re-established their relationship with and are honouring their responsibilities to nature.

This long-term vision is paired with a mission to achieve the 2030 targets: Working together to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and put nature on a path to recovery by taking urgent action to bring about transformative change for the benefit of all living things, including people.

Six pillars ensure our path to 2030 will be inclusive, adaptable, and evidence-based: (1) Recognizing, upholding, and implementing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and advancing reconciliation, as Indigenous Peoples are the original caretakers of the lands, waters, and ice; (2) Ensuring a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to create policy coherence and draw on the strengths of every segment of society to build and deliver the solutions we need; (3) Supporting a resilient economy and improving efficiency and certainty, as our prosperity is inherently linked to a healthy environment; (4) Empowering on-the-ground action by reflecting regional differences, supporting communities, and adopting flexible community-based approaches; (5) Using the best available science and knowledge, incorporating new insights, sharing information, and giving equal weight to western science and Indigenous Knowledge; (6) Applying integrated, holistic approaches to ensure our actions are inclusive and transparent.

The 23 targets are organized under three themes: (1) Reducing threats to biodiversity (Targets 1-8, i.e., addressing direct drivers of biodiversity loss; protecting and conserving lands and oceans; restoring degraded ecosystems; recovering species); (2) Meeting people’s needs (Targets 9-13, i.e., valuing and enhancing ecosystem services; sustainably using and managing biological resources; sharing the benefits of the use of genetic resources); (3) Deploying tools and solutions (Targets 14-23, i.e., improving knowledge sharing, tools, guidance, and tracking progress; mobilizing people and resources; supporting inclusive decision-making).

Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy was developed based on engagement with Canadians, provinces and territories, National Indigenous Organizations and Modern Treaty Partners, and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Nature Advisory Committee. It is not a stand-alone effort since it complements and is complemented by other federal strategies and initiatives (e.g., on climate change, sustainable development, reconciliation) and recognizes that there is no path to achieving the 2030 targets without Indigenous leadership and expertise.

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