23 Leading Canadian Environmental Organizations Release Detailed Proposals for Federal Environmental Action in Budget 2022

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, davidb@cwf-fcf.org
• Doug Chiasson, Co-Chair, Green Budget Coalition; and Senior Specialist, Marine Ecosystems and Government Engagement, WWF-Canada, 613-232-2559, dchiasson@wwfcanada.org
• Andrew Van Iterson, Manager, Green Budget Coalition; 613-296-3263, avaniterson@naturecanada.ca