Discourse on the “Towards a 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy” discussion paper developed by Environment and Climate Change Canada

In December 2022, Canada hosted the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) which saw nearly 200 countries adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).  This framework outlines a set of global goals to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and maintain positive momentum such that by 2050 “biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used.”

Within this commitment, counties are expected to update their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAP) to align domestic policy with the global goals outlined in the GBF. Revised national strategies must be completed before COP16 in 2024.

On May 15, 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) hosted a National Biodiversity Symposium which kicked off the formal engagement on developing Canada’s 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy. With this, ECCC developed a discussion paper entitled “Towards a 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy“ to gather ideas, information, and perspectives on biodiversity conservation in Canada and to inform the development of the Biodiversity Strategy. 

PDAC participated in a virtual natural resources sectors engagement session hosted by NRCan and ECCC, additionally, PDAC has formally submitted a response to the discussion paper to outline how mineral exploration can contribute to the realization of biodiversity targets.

In early 2024, PDAC followed up with a written submission to ECCC’s Milestone Document which contained the draft biodiversity strateg