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Science Matters by David Suzuki
Everyone knows that Canada is a wild land and that Canadians are all environmentalists
at heart. We love nature and go to great lengths to protect it. We are the boy
scouts of the international community.
If that image was ever true, it certainly isn't anymore. Environmental groups
have for years been decrying Canada's poor performance on environmental issues.
Now, even economic think-tanks are saying the same thing.
Recently, the Conference Board of Canada, a respected institution focusing on
economics, released its Performance and Potential report on the state of Canadian
society. While the board largely praised Canada's economic status, it took our
nation to task on our environmental record, heading its environment section saying
Canada needs to clean up its act.
The board compared Canada's performance with that of the other 23 members of the
Organization for Economic Co - operation and Development (OECD - the leading nations
of the developed world) in six categories, including the environment, economy,
society, education, health and innovation. In five of the six, Canada at least
made it into the top 12. But in environment, Canada places a sad 16th.
The fact is, when it comes to protecting nature, Canada lags behind. And this
is having other ramifications. Protecting nature is not about just saving species
or trees. It's a matter of maintaining the natural systems that provide us with
things like clean air and water - things that our economy and quality of life
ultimately depend on too. So, as our commitment to the environment wanes, our
social index ranking drops. For years Canada topped the United Nations' Human
Development Index, but we've slipped - first to third place, and now a lowly eighth.
When compared to other OECD countries, Canada ranks poorly in terms of water quality,
waste generation and disposal, and air quality. Canada actually places second
to worst in terms of nitrogen oxide emissions (which cause smog) and worst in
terms of carbon dioxide emissions (which cause climate change). Energy wastefulness
is partly to blame, according to the report, as it was in the case of the blackout
in Ontario this summer.
Denmark, Sweden and Austria are just a few examples of countries that are doing
a much better job of managing their natural capital through environmental planning,
the use of best available technologies and the enforcement of strict environmental
standards. The report points out that these countries also do well economically,
dispelling the notion that protecting environmental health must somehow be an
economic burden. In fact, the opposite is true.
Yet, strangely the board slips back into old-fashioned thinking when describing
the Kyoto treaty on climate change. It lists the treaty as an important international
agreement, but discusses it largely as a cost to the economy that will have to
be met, rather than an opportunity to bring down other costs, like air pollution
and energy waste.
The report also mentions the rising costs of health care due to an aging population,
but doesn't consider the costs of a changing climate on our health care system.
This summer, 35,000 people, mostly the elderly, died in Europe from heat waves.
The World Meteorological Organization estimates that heat-related deaths could
double worldwide in the next 20 years. Unless we tackle climate change, we will
face un increasingly unstable, unhealthy and expensive future.
Still, the Conference Board of Canada is onto something. It recognizes the necessity
of maintaining a healthy environment in order to maintain a healthy economy and
quality of life. Not a new idea, to be sure, but one many of our leaders seem
to have forgotten. Right now, Canada simply isn't measuring up. We really aren't
boy scouts anymore.
Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.
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