Ottawa (November 17, 2021) – As Canada's Parliament prepares to reconvene next week, the Green Budget Coalition today issued a comprehensive set of recommendations on how the next federal budget can meet the challenge of fighting the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.

“Canadians want ambitious action on environmental priorities” said David Browne, Green Budget Coalition Co-Chair and Director of Conservation for Canadian Wildlife Federation, during the release of the Green Budget Coalition’s Recommendations for Budget 2022.

“The government has promised to act on many of our specific recommendations, most recently in its election platform and at COP 26 in Glasgow. These commitments need to be implemented with funding in Budget 2022.”

The Green Budget Coalition’s five feature recommendations address three critical environmental objectives:

Net-Zero Emissions by 2050

1. Canada's Renovation Wave: A Plan for Jobs and Climate: CAD 10 billion–15 billion per year for 10 years to enable the renovation wave, including deep retrofits for residential and commercial buildings, Indigenous communities, and skills and market development.

2. Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Subsidies & Re-Orienting Public Finance: Recommendations to not introduce new fossil fuel subsidies, to phase out existing subsidies on an ambitious timeline, and to align all public finance with Canada's climate commitments.

Full Nature Recovery by 2050

3. Freshwater Management for the 21st Century: CAD 1.256 billion over 5 years to protect, manage, and restore Canada’s freshwater resources.

4. Permanent Funding for Protected Areas: CAD 1.4 billion per year in permanent funding, increasing to CAD 2.8 billion per year by 2030–31 for managing terrestrial and marine protected areas.

Environmental Justice

5. Office of Environmental Justice and Equity: CAD 25 million over 2 years, then CAD 15 million per year ongoing to create a new Office of Environmental Justice and Equity.

The Green Budget Coalition also recommends investments in transportation, renewable energy, nature restoration, fisheries management, action on toxics, sustainable agriculture, and other environmental issues.

“Our recommendations detail the investments needed to address the critical environmental challenges that Canada and the world face,” said Doug Chiasson, Green Budget Coalition Co-Chair and Senior Specialist, Marine Ecosystems and Government Engagement, WWF-Canada. “We will be looking for them in the Speech from the Throne and are ready to work with all parties to ensure these investments conserve biodiversity, fight climate change, and create jobs for Canadians.”

Twenty-three of Canada’s largest environmental and conservation organizations form the Green Budget Coalition. Together, these groups have more than a million members and supporters, and decades of experience solving Canada’s biggest environmental challenges.

###

About the Green Budget Coalition:

The Green Budget Coalition, founded in 1999, brings together 23 leading Canadian environmental and conservation organizations to present an analysis of the most pressing issues regarding environmental sustainability in Canada and to make recommendations to the federal government regarding strategic fiscal and budgetary opportunities.

The Green Budget Coalition’s members are:

ALUS Canada, Canadian Environmental Law Association, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Canadian Wildlife Federation, David Suzuki Foundation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Ecojustice Canada, Ecology Action Centre, Équiterre, Friends of the Earth Canada, Greenpeace Canada, International Conservation Fund of Canada, International Institute for Sustainable Development, MiningWatch Canada, Nature Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Nature United, Pembina Institute, Seed Change Canada, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, West Coast Environmental Law Association, Wildlife Habitat Canada, and WWF-Canada.

For more information, please see the detailed Recommendations for Budget 2022 at https://greenbudget.ca/recommendations2022 or contact:

• David Browne, Co-Chair, Green Budget Coalition; and Director of Conservation, Canadian Wildlife Federation, 613-222-6162, [email protected]
• Doug Chiasson, Co-Chair, Green Budget Coalition; and Senior Specialist, Marine Ecosystems and Government Engagement, WWF-Canada, 613-232-2559, [email protected]
• Andrew Van Iterson, Manager, Green Budget Coalition; 613-296-3263, [email protected]

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced the funding today at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) during the COP26 Africa Adaptation Acceleration Summit.  

“It is about climate change as people experience it on their doorsteps … it’s about how human beings can achieve a decent quality of life in the face of unprecedented climatic upheaval. We’re here at COP to ensure that adaptation reaches the people who need it the most, where they need it the most,” said Hon. Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada during remarks at the COP26 Africa Adaptation Acceleration Summit.

This funding responds to calls from developing countries, including Small Island Developing States and least-developed countries, for increased financial support in climate adaptation to prepare for and reduce their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.

The NAP Global Network was established in 2014 to support developing countries in advancing their national adaptation planning and implementation, in turn progressing climate change adaptation efforts around the world.

"We are thrilled to welcome the Government of Canada's renewed support for the National Adaptation Plan Global Network to help developing countries prepare for climate impacts and achieve a sustainable future," says Anne Hammill, senior director of the Resilience Program at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), which hosts the NAP Global Network Secretariat. "Through NAP processes, countries are accelerating efforts to put adaptation at the heart of decision making and secure a prosperous future in a changing climate."

This funding builds on a previous CAD 4 million commitment by the Canadian government to the NAP Global Network to provide support to Small Island Developing States and sub-Saharan African countries with a focus on using adaptation to promote gender equality.

The new funding will, among other types of support:

• Provide technical support to countries in putting adaptation at the heart of decision making, prioritizing the most vulnerable
• Engage civil society more directly in adaptation planning and action, working with women’s movements, Indigenous communities, and others
• Build communities of peer support, including to enhance women’s leadership.

The NAP Global Network is a multi-funder initiative, and Canada’s investment builds on more than CAD 12 million in financing from Austria, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States to scale up support for NAP processes as a critical tool in the efforts to build resilience to climate change.

There has been significant progress this year in developing countries' NAP processes. The UN reported last week that 129 of the 154 developing countries have NAP processes underway, and 30 developing countries have submitted NAPs to the UNFCCC.

"The Canadian government's generous financial support will allow the NAP Global Network to increase its support to countries that need it most," says Hammill.

This announcement demonstrates a critical commitment to strengthening adaptation governance in the Global South, enabling countries to translate their ambitions into action.