Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged the countries with the largest land area to do more to protect the biodiversity of their water and land.
Canada has signed an international pledge to reverse the biodiversity loss by 2030 and is working with more than 70 countries to put nature at the center of COVID-19 economic recovery plans.
The ongoing situation of COVID-19 pandemic has threatened people to shift their attention from environmental issues to other areas, because world leaders are committed to keeping citizens healthy and economically functioning.
At a special session of the United Nations on Monday (Sept 28), many heads of state, non-governmental organizations and financial institutions promised to develop “green and just”. The Leaders Pledge for Nature also includes commitments to sustainable supply chains, waste reduction and transparent financial reports that illustrate environmental risks and opportunities.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on video conference at the Leaders Event for Nature and People that Canada is the only signatory of the pledge among the 10 largest countries in the world.
“In terms of sheer acreage of the world, we need to get those other nine largest countries in the top 10 to do their part and step up as well,” he said.
Mr. Trudeau reiterated the Canadian government’s commitment to protect 25 per cent of Canadian land and 25 per cent of Canadian oceans by 2025, and to reach the goal of 30 per cent of both fronts by 2030.
The government of Canada said in a statement that the country is in a “unique position” because Canada has the second largest land in the world, the longest coastline in the world and one-fifth of the world’s fresh water. Generally speaking, Canada’s natural landscape plays a vital role in combating climate change.
Although the pledges are well received, environmental advocates say that they must be accompanied by a systematic transformation to integrate the management, protection and restoration of nature into the government’s main policy challenges, including economic recovery, climate change and the acquisition of indigenous rights progress.
The biodiversity meeting was originally scheduled to be held in China next month but now it is scheduled to be held in May 2021. Monday’s pledge was the precursor of the meeting, although not a formal binding meeting. It release did not involve the participation of some major players on the international stage, including the United States and China.
For those close to this process, the event and related announcements are seen as a way to make biodiversity and environmental issues a concern and may win the benefit of nature as the global economy re-emerges from the pandemic.