Hello Ancient Forest Friends! Please take note:
The AFA Office in Victoria will be closed from Saturday, Dec. 24th to Monday, Jan. 2nd. We will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 3rd with regular business hours. Any AFA merchandise orders received during this time will be shipped on or after Wednesday, Jan. 4th.
Thank you for your support and wishing you a joyous holiday season!
December 19
The Canadian Press
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault calls the agreed measures ‘an ambitious package’
Negotiators in Montreal have finalized an agreement to halt and reverse the destruction of nature by 2030, as the COP15 United Nations Biodiversity Conference talks enter their final official day.
An announcement issued early Monday morning says the gathering nations at the biodiversity summit have agreed to four goals and 23 targets.
The goals include protecting 30 per cent of the world’s land, water and marine areas by 2030, as well as the mobilization, by 2030, of at least $200 billion US annually in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from all sources, both public and private.
There is also a pledge to reduce subsidies deemed harmful to nature by at least $500 billion by 2030, while having developed countries commit to providing developing countries with at least $20 billion per year by 2025, and $30 billion per year by 2030.
“Many of us wanted more things in the text and more ambition, but we got an ambitious package,” said Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
“We have an agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, to work on restoration, to reduce the use of pesticides. This is tremendous progress.”
As the conference neared its final official day, Guilbeault said some countries were still asking for the inclusion of more ambitious numerical targets, while others in the global south continued to push for more funding.
The new agreement is titled the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework after the official host cities in China and Canada.
“We have in our hands a package which I think can guide us as we all work together to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and put biodiversity on the path to recovery for the benefit of all people in the world,” Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told delegates before the package was adopted to rapturous applause just before dawn. “We can be truly proud.”
Compromises reached, African negotiator says
The final agreement came after nearly two weeks of negotiations among 196 countries who are part of the UN biodiversity convention. They were seeking a new deal to halt the human destruction of nature and to begin restoring what has already been lost.
The United Nations says three-quarters of the world’s land has been altered by human activities and one million species face extinction this century as a result.
Climate change coupled with habitat loss, pollution and development have hammered the world’s biodiversity, with one estimate in 2019 warning that a million plant and animal species face extinction within decades — a rate of loss 1,000 times greater than expected.
Humans use about 50,000 wild species routinely, and one out of five people of the world’s eight billion population depend on those species for food and income, the report said.
“All the elements are in there for a balance of unhappiness, which is the secret to achieving agreement in UN bodies,” Pierre du Plessis, a negotiator from Namibia who is helping co-ordinate the African group, told The Associated Press before the vote.
“Everyone got a bit of what they wanted, not necessarily everything they wanted.”
Disagreement over financing
But the countries struggled for nearly two weeks to agree on what that protection looks like and who will pay for it.
The financing has been among the most contentious issues, with delegates from 70 African, South American and Asian countries walking out of negotiations Wednesday. They returned several hours later.
Developed nations insisted on the 30 by 30 target, while developing nations accused wealthier countries of setting high ambitions without offering enough cash to help pay for them.
Europe and most developed countries, including Canada, preferred to use the existing Global Environment Fund (GEF) and argued that creating a new fund would take too much time.
Developing nations in Africa, Latin America and Asia wanted a new dedicated biodiversity fund and said the GEF was inefficient, slow to get money out the door and oversubscribed.
A compromise of sorts was reached, with a new, dedicated biodiversity fund to be created within the GEF.
Tensions won’t affect agreement, Guilbeault says
Still, the financing disputes added drama and tension to the final moments of negotiations, when several nations, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Uganda, accused Huang of forcing through the deal despite their objections.
Huang’s gavel fell shortly after the Congo’s representative said his country couldn’t support the agreement because of concerns about funding.
But a legal adviser from the UN secretariat for biodiversity said that it wasn’t a formal objection, so it didn’t prevent the deal from being finalized.
Francis Ogwal, a Ugandan delegate and one of the co-chairs of a working group helping with the negotiations, said later Monday that he clarified with the Ugandan team that their objections were procedural and not about the agreement itself.
“Uganda is fully behind and supports the global biodiversity framework,” Ogwal said.
Guilbeault said outreach has already been made to Congo government representatives to address their concerns. He said he doesn’t think the tension will undermine the agreement or affect its implementation.
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We would like to give a HUGE thank you to the following businesses and individuals for generously supporting the old-growth campaign:
West Coast Trail Express Inc. for their generous donation
Wild Coast Perfumery Ltd for their long-standing and continued support
Taylor Burk for donating 10% of proceeds from their old-growth prints
iilo Creative Alliance inc. for generously supporting the AFA through their participation in Giving Tuesday and enhancing a team member’s donation to the AFA.
Cards By Colleen for donating all proceeds from select greeting cards
Your support makes our important work possible and we are forever grateful!
December 13, 2022
Victoria Buzz
By Curtis Blandy
Old-growth activists in BC are looking forward to Premier David Eby’s lofty goals of eco-conservation within the province.
With Premier Eby’s new cabinet officially sworn-in, their intentions and goals have been receiving some attention from activists throughout BC.
Specifically, the Ancient Forest Alliance is commending the newly elected premier on his mandate letter to Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship in which he outlines the expectation for the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) and committing to the protection of 30% of lands the in BC by 2030.
Protection of 30% of BC’s land would double the total current protected land.
“The commitment to double legislated protected areas in BC has the potential to be a major step towards protecting endangered old-growth forests, ecosystems, and species across British Columbia,” said Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt.
“The new premier should be commended for this. To ensure these promises can be made a reality, it’s imperative that major conservation funding is secured through the much anticipated BC-Canada Nature Agreement.”
“We have the framework, now we just need the funding to implement it.”
In addition to committing to this goal of protecting 30% of BC lands, the province has also acknowledged the need for conservation financing in order to protect areas with the most ecological diversity.
To achieve this, Minister Cullen says he will work with Indigenous communities as well as the government to establish stewardship programs and prioritize economic development for the conservation of old-growth.
Read the original article
December 11, 2022
CBC News
By Chad Pawson
Land stewardship mandate letter calls for 30 per cent of BC’s land base to be protected by 2030
In mandate letters to his land stewardship and forestry ministers, BC Premier David Eby says he wants to double the amount of protected land in the province, support new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, and move faster on recommendations around the logging of old growth trees.
They’re conservation goals advocates have been calling on for years to protect BC’s unique biodiversity, which has thousands of species at risk due to development and climate change.
“This is potentially a major leap toward protecting endangered ecosystems and the most at-risk, productive stands of old-growth forests left in BC,” said Ken Wu in a release from the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance.
Experts say protected areas help mitigate the worst effects of climate change, contribute to diversifying local economies and advance reconciliation with First Nations.
This week, Eby named his first cabinet as premier, with former energy and mines minister Bruce Ralston taking on forestry and Nathan Cullen replacing Josie Osborne as the minister for water, land and resource stewardship. The new ministry was put in place in February.
The tone of the letters appears to usher in the type of science-based, holistic approach to conservation and biodiversity in the province that people like Wu have been asking for from the BC government.
“We have seen the impacts of short-term thinking on the British Columbia land base — exhausted forests, poisoned water, and contaminated sites,” wrote Eby is his mandate letter to Cullen.
“These impacts don’t just cost the public money to clean up and rehabilitate, they threaten the ability of entire communities to thrive and succeed.”
The highlight is finding ways to partner with the federal government, First Nations, industry and communities to protect 30 per cent of BC’s landbase by 2030, including Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs).
IPCAs are lands and waters where Indigenous governments have the primary role in protecting and conserving ecosystems through Indigenous laws, governance and knowledge.
“Research shows that biodiversity thrives on Indigenous-managed lands and waters,” said Tori Ball with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, British Columbia.
Canada is committed to protecting 25 per cent of lands and 25 per cent of oceans by 2025,and 30 per cent of each by 2030.
Currently protected lands cover around 15 per cent of BC’s land base. Critics say ecological zones with the highest biodiversity are underrepresented.
Old growth
Both letters also ask for the ministers to implement 14 recommendations made more than two years ago in a review of how old growth trees are logged in BC, specifically transitioning to an industry that prioritizes the health of ecosystems.
Critics say the government has so far moved too slowly on action items as old growth trees in ecologically-rich areas continue to be logged.
Cullen’s mandate letter also calls for the development of a “new conservation financing mechanism to support protection of biodiverse areas,” but does not expand on what that might be or how it would work.
BC has yet to announce matching funding from the federal government, which ear-marked $55.1 million over three years to establish a BC “Old Growth Nature Fund” in its budget earlier this year.
The Sierra Club of BC said that reaching the commitments in the letters will depend on immediacy, proper funding, and transparency over timelines and milestones.
“Without immediate change on the ground the window of action to safeguard biodiversity as we know it is rapidly closing,” said Jens Wieting with Sierra Club BC.
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Thank you to all who attended the Ancient Forest Alliance’s amazing 2022 Year-End Celebration & Fundraiser last week at the Victoria Event Centre! Below are a few snapshots of the evening. It was wonderful to connect in person again and we are grateful to have such a passionate, kind, and generous community standing with us!
We’d also like to share a special thank you to those who helped make the night a success: AFA’s hardworking volunteers, the Victoria Event Centre staff, photographer Hélène Cyr, videographer Jim Vanderhorst, and finally, Market on Yates and Wildfire Bakery for their donations towards the delicious selection of appetizers and treats!
For immediate release
December 9th, 2022
Framework for increased protection has been laid, major funding now needed to make it succeed.
Victoria / Unceded Lekwungen Territories – The Ancient Forest Alliance commends the BC government for committing to protecting 30% of lands in the province by 2030, including through the creation of new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), which would double what is currently protected in legislated areas in BC. Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, has also been directed in his new mandate letter from Premier David Eby to “develop a new conservation financing mechanism to support protection of biodiverse areas.” No announcements around funding commitments have yet been made.
“The commitment to double legislated protected areas in BC has the potential to be a major step towards protecting endangered old-growth forests, ecosystems, and species across British Columbia,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner & Photographer, TJ Watt. “The new premier should be commended for this. To ensure these promises can be made a reality, it’s imperative that major conservation funding is secured through the much anticipated BC-Canada Nature Agreement. We have the framework, now we just need the funding to implement it.”
An aerial view over the Klaskish Inlet where the unprotected East Creek and Klaskish Rivers meet the Pacific Ocean in Quatsino territory on Vancouver Island, BC. The Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park is in the background.
This is also the first time the provincial government has publicly acknowledged the need for conservation financing linked to protecting the most biologically diverse areas and the creation of new IPCAs. In British Columbia, under successive court rulings, First Nations ultimately decide which areas within their unceded territories get protected or not. The provincial government can provide enabling conditions for First Nations to protect old-growth forests by providing critical funding for land use planning capacity, stewardship jobs, and sustainable economic development linked to new protected areas. The province choosing the most biodiverse areas for candidate protected areas, should First Nations agree, is a vital step towards securing productive old-growth forests, where the greatest species richness tends to be.
“For years we have been pushing for the province to commit to conservation financing that links protecting endangered old-growth forests through Indigenous Protected Areas with First Nations’ sustainable economic development,” notes Watt. “Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature. None of this happens for free, though. That is why the BC government now needs to accept and match the hundreds of millions of dollars that’s available from the federal government for expanding protected areas in BC through the much anticipated BC-Canada Nature Agreement.”
First Nations cultural tours, such as those pictured here in Clayoquot Sound, are just one example of sustainable business alternatives to old-growth logging.
The federal government has so far committed $3.3 billion over 5 years to expand terrestrial ($2.3 billion) and marine ($1 billion) protected areas, along with several billion dollars more for “natural climate solutions” that often overlap with nature protection initiatives. BC’s share of those funds is estimated to be between $200 to $400+ million, which also includes a dedicated $55.1 million Old Growth Nature Fund for the protection of the most at-risk old-growth stands, but only if the province matches this funding. When adding in potential funding from private donors, this could result in anywhere from $500M-$1B+ in total funding for conservation in BC.
“These latest commitments from Premier Eby appear to signal that the province is willing to move in the right direction. The Ancient Forest Alliance has long called for conservation financing to help establish new Indigenous-led protected areas that support sustainable enterprises, and for the government to adopt the federal protected areas targets at a bare minimum,” said Watt. “To make sure their actions truly make a difference on the ground, they must focus on the old-growth forests most at-risk, such as those with the grandest trees in the valley bottoms, as well as other endangered ecosystems across the province. Doubling the protected areas in BC by scooping up vast areas not under threat while allowing the logging of thousand year old trees to continue will only fuel the rampant public cynicism that’s resulted from broken political promises in the past. Ancient temperate forests in BC, and the communities and cultures that evolved amongst them for millennia, are counting on Eby to do the right thing.”
For interviews please contact TJ Watt at info@16.52.162.165
Ancient Forest Alliance Photographer & Campaigner, TJ Watt, admires the unprotected old-growth Sitka spruce trees in Mossome Grove near Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht territory on Vancouver Island, BC.
Background:
Conservation financing is an approach that was successfully used on BC’s Central and North Coasts, where $120 million was committed by the provincial and federal governments and conservation groups to support First Nations business development and economic alternatives to old-growth logging. The result was a globally significant conservation achievement, with 80% of what is now known as the Great Bear Rainforest being reserved from logging.
This funding helps to supplant the lost revenues and jobs from forgoing old-growth logging through the creation of alternatives such as eco-tourism, sustainable aquaculture, non-timber forest products, renewable energy, and even sustainable second-growth logging. It can also provide funds needed for First Nations’ guardian and stewardship programs.
Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, First Nations cultures, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and tourism. Under BC’s current system of forestry, second-growth tree plantations are typically relogged every 50-60 years, never to become old-growth again.
December 8th, 2022
The Narwhal
By Sarah Cox
Advocates say Premier David Eby’s conservation mandate is an ‘important step’ in the fight against biodiversity loss in BC, which is home to nearly 700 globally imperilled species
The BC government has committed to protecting 30 per cent of the province’s land by 2030, joining global efforts to protect nature and reverse potentially disastrous biodiversity loss.
The commitment to double BC’s current land protections was made in Premier David Eby’s mandate letter to Nathan Cullen, BC’s new Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. Eby instructed Cullen to ensure land operations in the province guarantee sustainability for future generations and to work closely with Indigenous communities to achieve that goal.
“We have seen the impacts of short-term thinking on the British Columbia land base — exhausted forests, poisoned water and contaminated sites,” Eby’s letter states. “These impacts don’t just cost the public money to clean up and rehabilitate, they threaten the ability of entire communities to thrive and succeed.”
The letter instructs Cullen to partner with the federal government, industry and communities, and to work with Indigenous communities to reach the 2030 protection goal, including through the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) are gaining recognition worldwide for their role in preserving biodiversity and securing a space where communities can actively practice Indigenous ways of life.
“By planning carefully, we can ensure our province enjoys the best of economic development while conserving wild spaces,” Eby writes. “Indigenous partners in this critical work can bring their expertise, knowledge and priorities to the table to ensure this effort lasts for generations.”
BC is poised to announce a long-awaited nature agreement with the federal government that will include a commitment to new protected areas and, according to internal documents obtained by The Narwhal, new protections for “high profile” species such as boreal caribou and spotted owls. The agreement is referenced in Cullen’s mandate letter, but no details are provided other than that it includes the goal to protect 30 per cent of the province by 2030.
About 15 per cent of BC’s land is currently conserved in provincial and federal protected areas.
All members of BC’s new cabinet received mandate letters Dec. 7 following a cabinet shuffle that saw Cullen’s predecessor Josie Osborne moved to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.
In Cullen’s letter, Eby also asks the MLA for Stikine to work with other ministries to develop a “new conservation financing mechanism to support protection of biodiverse areas.”
Conservation groups were quick to applaud the commitments — made as delegates from around the world gather in Montreal for COP15, the United Nations biodiversity conference — calling the news “very encouraging,” “fantastic” and “worthy of international and national attention.”
“It’s great to see provinces like BC and Quebec recognizing that the environment and protecting nature is critical, not just for nature, but for the well-being of people and the prosperity of our society,” Dan Kraus, director of national conservation for Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, told The Narwhal, referring to a recent commitment by the Quebec government to protect 30 per cent of its territory by 2030.
Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, said BC should be commended for committing to federal targets for protecting nature and biodiversity.
“It’s more than what most provinces have done,” Wu said in an interview. “With the exception of Quebec, most provinces have been conservation laggards both in terms of target and in terms of providing funding. So this is an important step.”
Gillian Staveley, director of land stewardship and culture with the Dena Kayeh Institute, said she is pleased the BC government is “finally” talking about Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. She praised the “cross-government approach” and called the minister’s letter a “strong mandate.”
“We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and meeting with Minister Cullen as soon as possible to get discussion underway in the work with BC to really make our proposed IPCA a reality for the benefit of all British Columbians,” Staveley texted as she boarded a flight to Montreal to attend COP15.
The Kaska Dena aim to protect a wildlife-rich area in their territory, known as the “Serengeti of the North,” through a proposed Indigenous protected area that would conserve a 40,000 square-kilometre region.
The Kaska protected area in northern BC would surround or connect to six existing protected areas, conserving watersheds and critical habitat for caribou and other species at risk of extinction while creating sustainable jobs. Staveley noted that Cullen has always been supportive of Dene K’eh Kusān, which in Kaska Dena means “always will be there.”
“Having 30 by 30 as a policy priority is also a big step towards the action we need,” Staveley said. “It leaves us hopeful that Premier Eby intends to be an activist premier and he understands the urgency to getting these protections in place to address climate change and loss of biodiversity.”
BC called the ‘biodiversity jewel’ of Canada
Wu and Kraus said they will be watching closely to see which areas of BC are protected, noting it’s of paramount importance to conserve areas at the highest risk of biodiversity loss.
Kraus called BC the “biodiversity jewel” of Canada. The province has almost 700 globally imperilled species, more than any other province or territory, and a high number of globally threatened ecosystems — 88 at last count, but Kraus noted that ecosystems are not tracked nearly as well as individual species. BC also ranks number one in Canada for endemic species, which top 100. Endemic species do not occur naturally in any other part of the world.
“What happens in BC is critical for meeting both national and global biodiversity targets,” Kraus said.
Places with high numbers of threatened species and globally imperilled ecosystems include the Lower Mainland and Okanagan area in BC’s interior, as well as the provincial capital area of Victoria where almost nothing remains of the now-rare Garry Oak ecosystem that once carpeted the region.
“We do know where those places are,” Kraus said. “And that focus on biodiversity areas allows us to protect habitat that will [conserve] a whole bunch of species at risk — globally imperiled species [and] nationally imperiled species that aren’t yet listed under the Species At Risk Act … we can be proactive in conserving them by protecting those habitat areas.”
Eby’s letter also instructs Cullen to “protect wildlife and species at risk.” It makes no mention of enacting a stand-alone law to protect BC’s growing number of species and ecosystems at risk of extinction, as promised in the 2017 mandate letter for BC Minister of Environment and Climate Change George Heyman — but then quietly dropped by the BC NDP government.
Instead, Cullen is asked to protect and enhance BC’s biodiversity by implementing the recommendations of an old-growth strategic review panel and a somewhat vague, previously announced strategy called Together for Wildlife.
Wu said Eby’s commitment to create a new conservation financing mechanism “may just be words” but the words signify the province is on the right path to establish economic development funding for First Nations tied to protecting places at the greatest risk of biodiversity loss.
“If they follow through with that, without spin, then that is a monumental leap forward,” he said, cautioning that the province has undertaken “creative accounting” in the past regarding how it counts protected areas. Designations such as old-growth management areas, ungulate winter range and wildlife habitat areas lack permanence or the standards of legally protected areas, Wu pointed out.
“Some of these conservation regulations are sort of like the cryptocurrency of protected areas,” he said.
New initiatives could end BC’s ‘war in the woods’
Other key elements of Cullen’s mandate include working with First Nations to “improve the protection and stewardship of forest resources, habitats, biodiversity and cultural heritage in the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement” and to “work toward modern land use plans and permitting processes rooted in science and Indigenous knowledge that consider new and cumulative impacts to the land base.”
Cullen was also instructed to work with the Ministry of Forests to begin implementation of recommendations made by an old-growth strategic review panel, which called for a paradigm shift in the way BC manages its forests and immediate deferrals from logging for old-growth forests at the highest risk of biodiversity loss.
In a 2019 United Nations report, scientists warned global biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, with about one million species facing extinction. They also said there is still time to turn things around with transformative change.
At the biodiversity conference underway in Montreal, close to 200 countries are working to finalize an agreement to reverse biodiversity loss and avoid devastating outcomes from the sixth mass extinction event in the Earth’s history, caused by human activity.
The global agreement aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve its full recovery by 2050.
Wu said BC must develop protection targets for all ecosystems and prioritize protection for the most endangered and least represented ecosystems. Economic development funding for First Nations should be tied to the protection of the most at-risk most productive old-growth forests, he said. Old-growth forests with the highest productivity — the biggest trees and the most species at risk of extinction — are found in valley bottoms.
Wu said the province will “get the job done” with a land acquisition fund that can also be used to buy private lands with endangered ecosystems.
“If they protect the valley bottoms, southern parts of the province, lower elevations most at risk, [and] old-growth forests and ecosystems, then they could put an end to the 50-year-old war in the woods.”
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December 2nd, 2022
The Guardian
Weeks before Cop15 in Montreal, leaked letter to EU shows host tried to water down deforestation regulations
The Canadian government has been accused of putting its domestic timber industry ahead of the global environment, following a leaked attempt to water down the world’s most ambitious regulations on deforestation-free trade.
Weeks before the United Nations biodiversity conference, Cop15 in Montreal, the host nation sent a letter to the European Commission asking for a reconsideration of “burdensome traceability requirements” within a proposed EU scheme that aims to eradicate unsustainably sourced wood products from the world’s biggest market.
The letter from the Canadian ambassador to the EU, Ailish Campbell, also called for a “phased” approach that would slow down implementation, and a review of plans to include “degraded” forests among the areas considered at risk.
Green MPs and conservation groups said the lobbying effort showed the government of Justin Trudeau placed more of a priority on its paper, timber and wood products industry than the international commitment it made at last year’s Glasgow climate conference to “halt and reverse” forest loss and land degradation by 2030.
“In this letter, you can perfectly see Canada wanted to protect its economic interests rather than the forest,” said the French MEP Marie Toussaint, one of the initiators of the new regulations. “For a country that is supposed to be in favour of conserving natural resources to say ‘don’t go so fast’ is surprising, especially when they will be at the forefront of the biodiversity issue in Montreal in a couple of weeks.”
Toussaint, who is a deputy leader of the Green group in parliament, said the proposed new regulations, which are in the last stage of negotiation this week between the European Commission, council and parliament, are designed to tighten controls and checks on forest products coming into the EU. This would include geolocation requirements so that buyers can know the exact origin of wood for decking, furniture or paper. Unlike previous measures the draft does not focus solely on illegal deforestation but also legal, unsustainable practices.
It is an important step that shows the EU is serious about the 2030 target, Toussaint said. “The EU can be proud. We are doing it in an ambitious way,” she said. “This is long overdue. For decades, we’ve tried to rely on voluntary reporting and commitments, but we can see this hasn’t been working.”
The US-based environmental advocacy group Mighty Earth said the proposed regulation was a potential turning point for protecting forests because it would set a new global standard. “This legislation could be a gamechanger. It’s too bad that Canada is working to gut the single most-important piece of forest legislation that we have seen in the past decade,” said the group’s founder and chief executive, Glenn Hurowitz.
Negotiations are at a critical stage. After this week’s talks, a deal should be hammered out by the end of the year, but the level of ambition is under dispute. Sweden, another supposedly green nation with a large logging industry, is said to have raised concerns about some human rights clauses. Poland and Italy are reportedly reluctant to include rubber among the products covered. Others, such as Germany, Belgium and Slovenia, are strong supporters of tough regulations.
Canada’s lobbying efforts are under particular scrutiny before the Montreal conference, which will put a spotlight on the country’s green reputation as well as a darker environmental side. Canada is a base for some of the world’s biggest mining firms, including Belo Sun, which aims to open a huge gold pit in the Amazon rainforest. Canada’s exploitation of tar sands in Alberta has also been widely criticised as out-of-step with efforts to keep global warming to between 1.5C and 2C above pre-industrial levels. The sustainability of the country’s forest-products firms, such as Paper Excellence and Resolute, has also been questioned.
The letter from Campbell notes that the country’s annual deforestation rate is less than 0.2%, so Canada should be given special consideration as a “low-risk” nation.
But reports indicate that some of the nation’s exports come from old-growth forests, which are far more important than secondary woodland for biodiversity protection and carbon sequestration.
Environmental groups say the timber industry often cuts under the canopy, which is categorised as “degradation” rather than “deforestation”. It has identified fragmentation of the remaining natural forests as a major threat to biodiversity, including the nutritional intake of caribou, which now have to be given supplementary feeding from humans in one area because the lichen they usually rely on is scarcer, partly as a result of industrial logging. The situation is worst in British Columbia, where the population of caribou has declined from about 40,000 to 17,000 in the past century, with the steepest fall in the past few decades.
In the letter, Campbell insists there is no agreed definition of degradation so it should not be included in the EU’s new regulations. But scientists insist that degraded land must be included and industrial logging of old-growth forests must be halted to align with a climate-safe world.
Campbell, who has more of an industry than environmental background, put the priority on trade in her letter. “We are greatly concerned that some elements of the EU’s draft regulation on deforestation-free products will lead to significant trade barriers for Canadian exporters to the EU. In particular, the requirements in the Regulation will result in increased costs, add burdensome traceability requirements (eg geolocation requirements) and risks negatively affecting trade, including well over C$1bn in forest and agricultural products exported from Canada to the EU,” she wrote.
Hurowitz said Canada should accept tighter controls and higher standards if it wants to live up to its green reputation, otherwise its appeal for special “low-risk” treatment will smack of double standards for rich northern nations compared with poorer tropical ones.
“Developed countries know how to speak the language of sustainability. Even when they are bulldozing old-growth forests, they’re good at slapping a green veneer on it,” he said. “Trudeau presents himself as green but in lobbying to weaken the EU’s forest protection rules, he is aligning himself with the likes of [former president] Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Canada needs to decide which side it is on.”
More trade-focused MEPs involved in the negotiations expressed hope that Canada would live up to its green reputation. Christophe Hansen, secretary general of Luxembourg’s Christian Social People’s party, said the letter should not detract from the Montreal Cop. “Canada being a host of the UN biodiversity conference does not prevent it from having its own preoccupations, but I am confident they will carry out their role as an honest broker and neutral host as they have done many times before.”
The Canadian foreign ministry and embassy to the EU have been approached for comment.
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