Northern Peatlands store 20-30% of the world’s soil carbon, and a quarter of these peatlands are in Canada. Maintaining and protecting these critical carbon stores is essential, but peatlands have limited protection despite the tremendous benefits they deliver for communities, climate, and biodiversity. Global models that evaluate emissions reduction pathways for 2050 assume intact northern peatlands will continue to absorb and store carbon at their current extent and rates.

Canada’s agri-food industry—which includes all the enterprises that produce, sell, and deliver food—is one of the country’s most important economic sectors and has generated about $143 billion towards Canada’s GDP. At the same time, the value of food—from farm to fork—lost or wasted (FLW) every year in Canada is estimated to be worth $49 billion. 

Industry activities and infrastructure systems in the transportation, energy, and buildings sectors produce a variety of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and air pollutants that can lead to a wide range of adverse health impacts and contribute to climate change. Projects with the potential to reduce emissions of GHGs and pollutants can offer health benefits in the communities where they are implemented due to the reduction of emissions of these pollutants.

As Smart Prosperity has argued in the past, housing policy is climate policy. As part of a series of housing policy reforms, the federal government is contemplating banning blind bidding, the process where bidders on a house know how many offers have been made but not the value of those offers. The argument for doing so is that blind bidding drives up home prices. If true, then this would limit access to family-friendly, climate-friendly housing across Canada.

Wind and solar energy will play an ever-growing role, globally and nationally, in meeting future energy needs under mid-century net-zero greenhouse gas emission goals. Fittingly, the policy lens on these renewable energy technologies has focused on their promise in a net-zero future. Only lately has it broadened to include equally critical considerations of the material needs and end-of-life management implications of this transition.    

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The economic downturn in Canada since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has been severe. While a green recovery offers an opportunity to advance solutions that support economic growth and improve environmental outcomes, policymakers should also consider the health impacts of green recovery spending.