Adopt OECD recommendations for biodiversity, WWF-Canada urges

OTTAWA, Dec. 22, 2017 — World Wildlife Fund Canada urges the governments in all jurisdictions of the country to implement measures aimed to restore, protect and enhance Canada’s wealth of nature and biodiversity and increase renewable-energy production as recommended in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s new 2017 Environmental Performance Review for Canada. Several of these recommendations reinforce the findings of the Living Planet Report Canada and Watershed Reports, and can be advanced by WWF’s Renewables for Nature tool. 
 
Megan Leslie, president and CEO of WWF-Canada, says: 
“It’s clear from the report that Canada’s unique wealth in nature and biodiversity isn’t matched by equally rich safeguards and protection measures. We urge governments in Canada to adopt recommendations from the OECD that would create a better future for nature, wildlife and people.” 
 
Among the OECD’s recommendations that WWF-Canada supports are the following: 

• Collaborate more effectively across jurisdictions to conserve at least 17 per cent of land and inland water by 2020, with expansion in the south of Canada where almost three-quarters of protected areas are smaller than 10 square kilometres. 
• Collaborate more effectively across jurisdictions in areas of biodiversity conservation, water management and land-use planning as well as environmental assessments, management and permits. 

• Strengthen federal environmental assessments by starting early in the design phase and ensuring closer integration with the provinces and territories. 
• Improve consistency of water monitoring across the country to better identify hotspots and rank priorities. 
• Introduce water use charges and create effective reallocation mechanisms in watersheds. 
• Reflect the impacts of climate change on water availability in water-management plans. 
• Improve consultation with Indigenous communities and their capacity to meaningfully participate. 

• Prioritize the elimination of fossil fuels in electricity generation and the adoption of renewable energy. 
• Ensure electricity pricing reflects the full economic and environmental costs. 

 
About World Wildlife Fund Canada 
WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwfcastg.wwf.ca. 
 
For further information 
Philippe Devos, director of communications, pdevos@wwfcanada.org, +1 416-453-0092