Department: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Combatting plastic pollution in Canada and the world (Target 7)

The Green Budget Coalition maintains that the impacts of plastic production and pollution on the triple crises of climate change, nature loss and pollution are a catastrophe in the making.

With the final Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee session (INC-5) for a new Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution occurring in late 2024, it is expected that the new Treaty will be presented in 2025. Canada must be ready to act to support its implementation globally and at home.

Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy paves the way to support the new Treaty by positioning pollution as “one of the five largest direct drivers of global biodiversity loss.”

There are known to be over 13,000 chemicals used in plastics and plastic production. Many of these chemicals have not been assessed for their safety. Domestic action should build on the long- standing expertise of the Chemicals Management Plan team, led by ECCC and HC, in order to ensure a comprehensive and consistent path in addressing the chemicals used in the production of plastics contributing to the impacts from plastic pollution. This would also ensure that no new plastic substances or their alternatives are introduced into the Canadian marketplace without undergoing ecological and health risk assessments, and the implementation of management measures are in place to avoid the impacts associated with plastic pollution. Addressing the unnecessary proliferation of plastics in our environment will also help Canada achieve its climate goals.

The federal government should continue its global leadership in negotiating the new Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution and be prepared in 2025 to contribute financially to its implementation globally while accelerating plastic pollution work domestically.

Recommended Investment:

$1 billion over three years to support global implementation and domestic action on the Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution that would include:

  • Contributing to the implementation of the Global Plastic Treaty [ECCC, GAC];
  • Establishing specific funding for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the global south to access technical expertise, develop innovative solutions and engage the public [ECCC, GAC];
  • Establishing specific funding for Indigenous Rights Holders to access technical expertise on implementation of the new treaty [ECCC];
  • Accelerating domestic work to address the lifecycle of plastics from production to waste management, with a specific focus on chemicals used in plastic production (including toxic additives), reduce plastic pollution, prevent problematic plastic products and, proactively eliminate harmful chemicals for use in manufacturing [ECCC, HC];
  • Reducing plastic pollution with specific targets in shipping, ghost fishing gear, and aquaculture [ECCC, DFO, TC]; and
  • Increasing funds to enforce regulations on export of hazardous waste. [ECCC, CBSA]
  • Budget breakdown will be available at a later date.
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Invasive species – Controlling their economic, social, and environmental impacts (Target 6)

Recommended Investment:

$250 million over five years to effectively manage and mitigate the catastrophic economic, social, and environmental impacts of invasive species in Canada. [ECCC, AAFC, DFO, CFIA, NRCan, PS, HC]

The impacts of invasive species on native ecosystems, habitats, and species is catastrophic and often irreversible. In Canada, invasive species are frequently and increasingly identified as a top threat to species at risk and economic impacts result in billions of annual losses. In the early 1960s, invasive species cost North America USD $2 billion per year, which has increased to over USD $26 billion per year since 2010. Significant impacts to the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism sectors are experienced, with the Canadian agriculture sector alone estimating a $2.2 billion annual economic impact from invasive plants.

Key Actions:

  • Prevent new invasive species by identifying key pathways for the introduction and provide education, resources, and training. [ECCC, PS, CFIA, AAFC]
  • Develop, implement, and monitor a National Framework for Early Detection and Rapid Response to ensure effective and early response to new and emerging invasive species. [CFIA, AAFC, ECCC, DFO, NRCan, HC]
  • Enable and support cross-sectoral partnerships in planning, control, monitoring, and reporting to restore and improve habitats. [ECCC, DFO, AAFC, CFIA, NRCan, PS]
  • Ensure access to, and encourage the use of, strong science to inform management and provide transparent reporting to evaluate effectiveness of programs and policies. [ECCC, DFO]

Rationale:

  • Environmental impact
    • Invasive species are one of the direct drivers of biodiversity loss causing irreversible damage to native ecosystems and habitats.
    • Effective management of invasive species will restore and improve habitats, ensuring healthier ecosystems.
  • Economic benefit
    • Significant economic impacts are seen in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism. Addressing invasive species can mitigate losses to Canada’s GDP.
  • Social and community impact
    • Supports community wellbeing, fostering stronger local involvement and stewardship.
    • Increases public awareness and participation in preventing and managing invasive species through education and training initiatives.
    • Enhances cultural and ecological resilience of peoples and communities.
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Halting and reversing losses of Canada’s bird populations (Targets 2, 3, 4, 10, 21)

Ecosystems in Canada and throughout much of the Americas depend on the ecological services provided by the billions of birds born in Canada annually, including seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, pest management and more. We cannot afford to allow our bird populations to decline further due to human actions. In this budget, the Green Budget Coalition urges the federal government to make a meaningful investment in birds by funding efforts to reduce human-caused risks to birds and improve their habitats. Specifically, there is a need for investments that help birds survive and thrive in urban landscapes, agricultural landscapes and in the vast working forests. Investments are needed to halt losses and recover populations of the most threatened groups of species, the aerial insectivores, grassland birds and shorebirds.

The third State of Canada’s Birds report will be published in 2024. Funding to support the science and monitoring programs on which the state of the bird reporting is based is essential to inform conservation and management decisions.

The Green Budget Coalition is calling for strategic investments to halt and reverse bird population declines through the following investments:

Total Recommended Investment:

$30 million over four years [ECCC – Canadian Wildlife Service] to:

  1. Mitigate human-related bird mortality in urban and working landscapes (agricultural and forestry) in Canada. This investment is intended to support programs and activities that directly address major human-related causes of direct and indirect bird mortality (e.g., destruction of habitat, pesticide use, collisions with human-built structures) and incentivize actions to restore nature. $12 million over four years
  2. Protect and restore key habitats and areas for grassland birds, aerial insectivores and shorebirds. Develop and implement an action plan to identify, prioritize, and protect critical areas for these three groups of species. $12 million over four years
  3. Maintain strong science programs to inform conservation efforts. $6 million over four years
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Ecological connectivity: Nationwide fund and wildlife crossings pilot program

This recommendation complements and strengthens the earlier recommendation for Ecological connectivity: Renewal of Parks Canada’s Ecological Corridors program.

Ecological connectivity is fundamental to tackling the top threats to biodiversity: habitat loss and fragmentation, and climate change. Federal investment is needed for a nation-wide connectivity fund to support work by Crown and Indigenous governments, NGOs, and private entities to conserve areas identified as important for ecological connectivity and to create effective mitigation measures to improve connectivity of fragmented landscapes.

The Green Budget Coalition also recommends establishing a pilot federal wildlife crossings Program. Taking guidance from the successful US Wildlife Crossing Program model, the pilot program would fund provincial and federal wildlife crossings projects in critical regional wildlife linkage areas with high wildlife-vehicle collisions and would: protect biodiversity by maintaining wildlife-movement routes; address climate change as species’ ranges shift; move people and wildlife more safely across roads; increase the efficiency of transportation; stimulate local economies; and create jobs. The pilot could be delivered under Canada’s Natural Infrastructure Fund, if the Fund were expanded to include wildlife crossing structures.

Recommended Investment:

$500 million over five years for a nationwide connectivity fund, and a federal wildlife crossing pilot program [ECCC, PC, HICC]

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Establishing an endowment fund (The Canada Conservation Investment Fund) to strengthen the private land conservation sector

Across the country, local and regional land trusts protect hundreds of thousands of hectares of the most endangered landscapes, particularly in southern Canada where nature loss is most acute. Establishing a Canada Conservation Endowment Fund program will provide the necessary infrastructure and funding for land trusts to support a growing sector, diversity, capacity, job creation and retention, land stewardship, and expansion of Canada’s private land conservation programs. Federal funding to expand protected areas is critical to nature conservation, and to uphold the designation of “permanent” protection, perpetual stewardship is imperative.

A Canada Conservation Investment Fund will help ensure the long-term care of Canada’s network of privately conserved areas. The structure of the Fund could be modelled on the successful Canada Cultural Investment Fund.

Recommended Investment:

$150 million over ten years for an endowment fund that will create a long-term funding stream to strengthen the capacity of local and regional land trusts to care for natural spaces in perpetuity. [ECCC]

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