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Canadian Environment Awards 2008
Community Action Plan
WAKE-UP CALL
Canada's hinterland reputation was dealt a heavy blow two years
ago when University of Victoria researcher David R. Boyd released Canada
vs. The OECD: An Environmental Comparison. A lawyer, an
author and a senior associate with the Eco-Research Chair of
Environmental Law and Policy at the university, Boyd wanted
to set the record straight. The highly polarized environmental
discourse would be resolved in startling black and white by
Boyd, who synthesized Canada"s performance among the 28
other developed-world nations that report to the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Using OECD data, Boyd analyzed 10 categories — air pollution,
energy use, waste, agriculture, climate change and water among
them — and spelled out how we measured up according to
25 key environmental indicators. The cold reality was: Canada
failed to place even once among the best-performing three for
any indicator. In fact, in 9 of the 25 categories, we were
among the worst three. Our poorest standing occurred in some
of the most critical categories, such as climate change and
water consumption. The bombshell which would silence any freemarket
enthusiast was that the levels of pollution and environmental
degradation created on Canadian soil were disproportionately
high for our level of productivity. Canada's economy was, therefore,
deemed to be "inefficient." Overall, Canada ranked 28 out of
29.
These are the facts.
ALL CANADA, ALL THE TIME
Boyd's story wasn't an easy one to hear. We love our country,
and apparently, so do others. In fact, Canada has been classified
among the best places in the world to live. But our environmental
track record suggests that we're not only dropping the baton
we should be passing to future generations but growing wobbly
before we turn the final curve.
Canadians, it seems, are heavy consumers, among the most voracious
in the world. In Canada vs. The OECD,
Boyd writes, "Scientists have calculated that if everyone on
Earth consumed as much as the average Canadian, we would need
three additional planets to produce the resources and absorb
the pollution." Ouch!
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SUSTAINABLE SHIFT
As a nation, we take and take with abandon, showing little
collective evidence of achieving satiation. But by shifting
to sustainable development, Canadians can have their comforts
and their wild lands too. When she was chair of the World Commission
on Environment and Development in 1983, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland
helped push the term "sustainable development" onto the
world political stage in her report Our Common Future.
Now, 21 years later, there is an urgent need for Canada to
step up and, as Maurice Strong famously said, pursue "development
without destruction."
Sustainable development is a responsive way of life. A sustainable
society monitors its resources so that they will be there in
perpetuity, whether they are forests, marine species or energy
resources. It's a way of living in harmony with the landscape
and not degrading the complex network of life forms on which
we depend. It is a nuanced, thoughtful approach to development
that demands consideration of all factors which affect our
well-being, health, economies and social conditions.
Sustainability isn't about doing less with less. It"s
about doing more — but doing it smart. It calls on human ingenuity
to develop strategies and technologies that yield the results
we seek without destroying our human and natural values. It
makes us accountable for our impact on the environment that
sustains us. It holds humankind to a much higher standard,
but it is one we can easily fulfill. As Brundtland explained
during a 2002 address to the World Health Organization: "Our
Common Future succeeded because it was able to convince
most people that sustainable development was about putting
people first. Sustainability is about making lives better for
people. It is about reducing poverty and maintaining prosperity.
In other words, economic growth and sustainable development
can go hand in hand."
A NEW VISION FOR CANADA
After years of sustainable talk, however, it's time for sustainable
action. The Canadian Environment Awards is about grassroots
action. It's about doing, not waiting for someone else to take
the initiative. In the Community Action Plans following each
awards category, we"re proposing some fundamental first
steps. They don't require a huge sacrifice. They don"t
require more of Earth; they call for less. Changing our habits — how
much water and energy we use, how much garbage we produce — represents
grassroots momentum for real change.
Ordinary Canadians may not routinely sit at government summits
or corporate strategy sessions, but as consumers, we possess
the influence to shape the marketplace and influence environmental
practices and policy. "Individuals can make a difference," says
Boyd, who recently authored Sustainability within a Generation:
A New Vision for Canada for the David
Suzuki Foundation. "That's why Canada passed the Species
at Risk Act in 2002 — because tens of thousands of Canadians
said it was long overdue. That's why the latest federal budget
has $4 billion to clean up contaminated sites, because people
spoke out, and government listened."
Our environment has been forgiving. For generations, it's shielded
us from the consequences and dangers of our own excesses. It
is our turn to give back. "The good news," says Boyd, "is
that by striving toward a sustainable future, we will end up
with a higher quality of life, not only for ourselves but for
our children. And what could be a better legacy than that?"
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