I’m writing this month’s blog post from the University of Oslo library, where I’m studying abroad this semester. Moving across the globe, I’ve certainly encountered some eye-opening differences in culture, including public transit etiquette, prices of groceries, and acceptable levels of chit-chat. As I experience daily life in one of Europe’s leading countries in sustainability, I thought this would be a good opportunity to compare Canada to other countries that are seen as “sustainable” and discuss the ways our country is both excelling and slacking in ocean conservation and environmentalism as a whole. We’ll examine what it means for a country to be sustainable, where Canada stands, and the role of the government versus the role of the individual.
According to the 2022 Sustainable Development Report from the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the most sustainable country in the world is Finland. The country had an SDG Index Score of 86.5, well above Canada’s 77.7 which put us below the top 20 countries in the world. Finland has achieved their goals of sustainability through an annual sustainability assessment that has been in effect since 2018. This allows the country to analyze planning, budgeting, and reporting in order to improve its sustainability. They have energy-efficient homes, a UNESCO-certified groundwater system, and a thorough recycling program.
After Finland, the other Scandinavian countries all fall next in line in terms of sustainability. With an SDG Index Score of 85.6, Denmark achieves its sustainability through enacting greener government policies, such as their 2019 Climate Act which promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country by 70% by 2030. The country gets nearly half its energy from wind farms, exhibiting the effectiveness of green energy. Sweden, where more than half of the energy is produced by renewable sources, has a score of 85.2. The country utilizes electric buses, urban farming, food banks, and smart roads to help its population live as sustainably as possible, and it also has goals to reduce emissions from 85 to 100 percent by 2045. Finally, Norway has an SDG Index Score of 82.3. The country has been employing its natural resources since the 1800s, harvesting energy created by rivers in the fjords to fuel the growing population. In recent years, sustainable energy resources such as floating solar panels and silicon solar modules have been created to add to pre-existing solutions like their almost entirely electric public transport system.
While these countries are certainly paving the way in terms of general sustainability efforts, ocean conservation is not their priority. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are zones of the ocean set aside for conservation, somewhat like marine national parks. They are vital tools for conservationists and protect marine ecosystems from overfishing and resource extraction. MPAs have been shown to significantly increase both ecosystem health and organism numbers within previously exploited areas. Palau, a small island of only 20,000 individuals decided that in addition to managing their fisheries by closing important spawning grounds to fish periodically, they would close 80% of all fishing grounds to any extraction permanently. In total, this resulted in the island creating an MPA of 500,000 km2. The United Kingdom created an MPA of 834,000 km2, the largest continuous marine reserve in the world. This encompasses the Pitcairn Islands, an overseas British territory in the South Pacific with only 56 inhabitants. MPAs are vital for ocean conservation and are an important step for all countries along coasts if they want their oceans to have futures.
So… where is Canada at? Our score of 77.7 signifies that we’re doing some good in the fight against climate change, but that we could definitely be doing more. Some of the ways we’re being proactive include generating economy-wide climate plans for the country, putting a price on carbon, and phasing out coal-fired electricity while simultaneously supporting a transition for coal power workers and communities. In the past, there hasn’t been a very consistent approach to not only setting climate targets, but following up on those targets with comprehensive plans that include timelines, policies, and investments. The Healthy Environment Healthy Economy Plan (HEHE) of 2020 is a step in the right direction. Additionally, we’ve seen the tabling of BillC12 (the Net-Zero Accountability Act), a piece of climate legislation that has potential to make Canada’s long-term goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 law. With the release of HEHE in December 2020 came confirmation that carbon prices across Canada will continue to increase yearly, with a benchmark cost of $170/ton by 2030. This sends the economy-wide signal that it is no longer alright to externalize the cost of pollution. These are small victories, however. Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are not declining, and our current climate plans focus on coal, continuing to neglect that the county’s largest and fastest sources of emissions are oil and gas production. We’re a long way from being in the top 20 most sustainable countries. Additionally, there are currently 14 MPAs across Canada comprising over 350,000 km2 of the ocean but only 6% of Canada’s marine and coastal areas. Canada has largely put the economic prosperity of the oceans above the health of marine life, communicating that ocean sustainability is not the government’s priority.
Where do we go from here? Aside from taking individual actions such as transforming your transport, reducing power usage, and tweaking your diet, ramping up the political pressure is one of the most important ways to ensure Canada takes responsibility for its impact on the world at large. Lobbying local politicians and corporations to cut emissions and reduce carbon pollution is essential for tackling the climate emergency. This can be scary, but just start small. Pick an environmental issue you care about, decide on a specific request for change, and try to arrange a meeting with your local representative. This is an incredible way to start the conversation and enact real change in your community.