Canadians benefit when we invest in nature and resilience abroad

(This piece first appeared in the Hill Times on 20 April 2026. Reprinted with permission from The Hill Times.)

Last month saw the release of Canada’s long-awaited nature strategy, an ambitious plan to deliver on its international commitment to protect 30 per cent of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030, backed by a significant investment of $3.8-billion.

The strategy includes a significant expansion of terrestrial and marine protected areas; major support for Indigenous-led conservation; and the launch of Canada’s first National Water Security Strategy, among other laudable and urgent goals. But while the strategy is focused on domestic priorities and action, Canada must also continue to think beyond its borders.

We have a strong track record here: our country’s leadership in the global fight against biodiversity loss is well established, and perhaps best reflected in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the historic international agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, signed in Montreal in 2022.

Canada is also putting its money where its mouth is. Contributions to nature protection overseas have been complemented with climate financing—particularly through the Partnering for Climate initiative, also launched in 2022. This means efforts to protect nature often go hand-in-hand with efforts to build resilience to the impacts of climate change. These investments in what we call “nature-based solutions” are cost-effective and have yielded significant economic, social, and environmental returns.

In extraordinary times defined by conflict, economic uncertainty, social unrest, and ecological crises, Canada must be increasingly strategic in the investments it makes overseas.

As the government prepares a spring economic update to match this moment, its international support of climate action and nature protection is coming under more strain—and scrutiny—than ever. Increasingly, these investments must show clear benefit to both our international partners and Canadians alike.

Programs like Partnering for Climate give us ample evidence for making this case.

To start, building resilient communities and ecosystems abroad is a proven way to create new economic opportunities for Canada. We need to continue to invest in healthy, multidimensional relationships with other nations—a “dense web of connections across trade, investment, culture,” as the prime minister recently said. And not just with the so-called middle powers; economies from across Africa, Asia, and Latin America are poised to drive the next wave of global demand.

Partnering with these countries is in this country’s direct interest: in strengthening their resilience we are supporting new, reliable markets for Canadian investments, goods, and expertise in clean technology, critical minerals, sustainable finance, and resilient infrastructure.

Furthermore, as these nature-based projects help address environmental drivers of instability, we see local populations—as well as Canadians living and working abroad—thrive in safer, more predictable contexts, which in turn creates more stability for future investments.

There’s also the benefit of showcasing Canadian expertise outside our borders. The federal government’s climate financing for developing countries over the last decade has enabled Canadian organizations to deploy in-demand knowledge and skills in addressing the challenges posed by climate change at the global, national, and local levels.

My organization, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, has partnered with governments, community groups, and local businesses around the world on nature-based solutions for both climate mitigation and adaptation—with tangible results. Whether it’s guiding national governments through the early phases of adaptation planning or working on implementation to ensure policies are improved, rivers are restored, and trees are planted, the impact is huge. And throughout this time, the maple leaf is often front and centre, building a tremendous amount of goodwill for Canada.

These projects have leveraged Canadian funding and expertise while collaborating closely with governments abroad, many of them allied and aligned with Canadian interests. They are the kinds of projects that scale well, can attract private capital, keep communities and cities livable in the Global South, and offer lessons tested by others for how our own municipalities, parks, and governance structures can adapt to changing conditions.

Canada’s reputation across regions like sub-Saharan Africa has been growing in recent years thanks to the tangible benefits of this support. This matters for trade. This matters for coalition building and global negotiations on a range of topics. We can show the world Canadian leadership is not just pragmatic, but principled.

While some countries are abandoning relationship-building efforts, Canada can strategically step up. Not solely as a donor, but as a partner and investor building momentum that unlocks progressively greater economic, social, and environmental returns.