Sustainability within a Generation

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Sustainability within a Generation

• Building Saskatchewan Green Conference
• Ann Rowan
• David Suzuki Foundation

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Vision of the David Suzuki Foundation
By 2030, Canada will be a world leader in
sustainable living and environmental protection
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Basis for Decision-making

• Prices
• Quarterly results
• Exchange rates
• Equity markets
• GDP
• ROI

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We all depend on ecosystem services
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Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentGlobal Findings

• Dire state of many of the worlds fish stocks
• Human activities produce more biologically usable
  nitrogen than is produced by all natural
  processes combined
• Speed of climate change reduces adaptability
  while development has foreclosed options for
  species to migrate.

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Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentGlobal Findings

• We have taken planet to edge of massive wave of
  extinctions.

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Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentGlobal Findings

• Degradation and unsustainable use of ecosystem
  services
• Approximately 60 (15 out of 24) of the ecosystem
  services evaluated are being degraded or used
  unsustainably
• The degradation of ecosystem services often
  causes significant harm to human well-being and
  represents a loss of a natural asset or wealth of
  a country

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Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentDire Warning

• We are spending Earths natural capital, putting
  such strain on the natural functions of Earth
  that the ability of the planets ecosystems to
  sustain future generations can no longer be taken
  for granted. 

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Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentYet Hopeful Note

• At the same time, the assessment shows that the
  future really is in our hands.  We can reverse
  the degradation of many ecosystem services over
  the next 50 years, but the changes in policy and
  practice required are substantial and not
  currently underway.

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Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentKey Steps to
Changing our Future

• Change the economic background to decision-making
• Improve policy, planning, and management
• Influence individual behavior
• Develop and use environment-friendly technology

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Canada at the Crossroads

• Canada has the capacity to be a leader natural
  assets in abundance, strong social systems, small
  but talented population . . .
• But we are not dealing with root causes of
  environmental degradation over-consumption of
  resources and energy
• Canada should be emulating countries with a
  sustainability agenda -- like the UK, Germany and
  Sweden

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Sustainability Agenda

• De-couple economic growth from use of natural
  resources and energy
• Link health of the environment to health and
  other quality of life issues
• Recognize the economic opportunities in design of
  technology and processes that reduce impact on
  nature

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Moving Forward Critical Challenges for
Canada
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Conserve, Protect and Restore Canadian
Nature

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Generate
Genuine Wealth

• 1

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Improve
Efficiency

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Shift to Clean Energy

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Reduce Waste
and
Pollution

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Protect and Conserve
Water

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ProduceHealthy Food

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Build Sustainable
Cities

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Promote Global Sustainability

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Canadas Transition to a 21st Century Economy

• Ecological Fiscal ReformReward the good,
  discourage the bad
• Regulatory backstop to voluntary measures
• Green procurement policies Governments should
  lead by example
• National Sustainability Plan

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Sustainability Within a Generation
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Now, in the first years of a new millennium,
Canada can rely on two priceless resources our
land and our population. . . Never has it been so
urgent to ensure the ethical and ecological
integrity of this world for generations to come.
It is a moral obligation. . . .I hope with all my
heart that together we can call upon the vigour
of our shared history to realize our dearest and
most ambitious wish to make a better world.

• Michaëlle Jean, Governor General