The Nature Investment Hub congratulates Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberal Party of Canada on their election win. This is a time of economic uncertainty, climate and biodiversity crises, and threats to Canada’s sovereignty and security. The new Prime Minister and all of the government have a mandate to keep Canada united, safe, and prosperous. Safeguarding nature must be a non-negotiable part of that mandate.
The Nature Investment Hub urges the new Prime Minister to fulfill a number of key promises from his platform, including:
1. Halting and reversing nature and biodiversity loss through reinforced efforts to conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030, and implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework. We will be watching for the creation of at least 10 new National Parks and Marine Protected Areas, and support for the creation of 15 new urban parks and green spaces in municipalities.
2. Launching the Canadian Nature Protection Fund to restore old-growth forests, safeguard carbon-rich peatlands, and revive our coastal waters to supercharge conservation and support Indigenous leadership. We will be watching for the federal government will match every dollar Canadians, businesses, and philanthropists contribute, up to $250 million.
3. Expanding the Indigenous Guardians Program to include 50 new Arctic Indigenous Guardians, as well as the implementation of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, building a strong economy with First Nation, Inuit, and Métis participation, and including a strategy for economic reconciliation.
4. Prioritizing natural infrastructure, like forested areas and wetlands, to protect against extreme weather — made possible through a mix of conservation funding, climate change adaptation funding, and public-private infrastructure investments.
Nature is Canada’s hidden economic powerhouse, as well as integral to our shared identity as a widespread, diverse nation. Investing in nature is central to this new government’s mandate, and underpins the top issues Canadians face: national security, economic prosperity, affordability, Indigenous Reconciliation, and climate change.
The Nature Investment Hub has already rolled up our sleeves to prioritizing the growth of a nature finance market in Canada, without losing sight of the fact that meaningful progress on jurisdiction and land rights in relation to nature are crucial to our ambition.
Whether its de-risking capital investing, providing catalytic capital, strengthening the Federal Green Bond Program or making smart programmatic investments of the kind mentioned above, we intend to work with all our partners to articulate a shared view of priorities on where the federal government can best play its part in realizing this ambition.
As a nonpartisan organization, the Nature Investment Hub is hyperfocused on advancing nature finance in Canada and looks forward to working with this government, as policy, leadership, and action on commitments are key to unlocking this generational opportunity.
Photo Credit: Elections Canada