Sustainability Within a Generation:
A new vision for Canada

Canadians are among the most-staunchly pro-environment citizens on the planet. Statistics Canada data for 2000 shows that nine out of 10 Canadians rate the environment as one of their top concerns. This remarkable support--combined with Canada’s capital, expertise and highly-educated workforce--means achieving economic and environmental sustainability within a generation is possible.

While Canadians show overwhelming support for the environment, they are also concerned about the kind of world we will leave for future generations. These concerns, however, are not reflected in the priorities established by governments. Canadians continue to breathe polluted air, spend more and more time stuck in traffic, and worry about the quality of our drinking water and safety of our food.

Sustainability within a Generation identifies over-consumption of natural resources and energy as the root cause of Canada’s environmental woes. In 2002, the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation noted that Canada's “prevailing emphasis on consumption – with high levels of waste, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions – jeopardizes the capacity of natural resources and systems to support future generations.” Consumption refers to the energy and resources consumed not only by individuals, but by the entire industrial economy in Canada.

But, reducing our consumption of resources does not necessarily mean reducing our quality of life.

• Switching to a car that uses half as much fuel or a refrigerator that uses one-tenth of the electricity protects the environment, saves money, and provides the same level of service and satisfaction.
  
  
• Reducing consumption of resources does not mean the end of economic growth. With the right incentives, we can exchange more dollars while using fewer resources. Our economy can grow by adding value to natural resources extracted and harvested in Canada and by providing services rather than producing more goods.
  
  
• Fiscal reform is central to achieving environmental sustainability. Known as Ecological Fiscal Reform, it involves lowing taxes on activities we want to encourage, and taxing undesirable activities. Instead of taxing employment and investment, they should be gradually applied or increased on natural resource use, pollution and waste.

We also must begin to measure wealth in a more accurate way than the current narrow and inherently flawed yardstick of economic growth. Genuine wealth is a much broader concept that focuses on five key asset areas: human, natural, social, manufactured, and financial capital.

The late Senator Robert Kennedy explained genuine wealth in a moving address in 1968:

"…Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways or carnage. It counts special locks for our doors, and jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead …

Yet the GNP does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate, or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.1"

Canada has the ability--and we believe the obligation--to become a world leader in innovative ways of living sustainably and protecting the environment. Some of the ways we can do this include:

• Improving efficiency:  the efficient and effective use of energy and resources is essential if we are to live within the inherent ecological limits of Earth. Canada could reduce energy and material use by 75 to 90 per cent from today’s levels and still retain our quality of life. Canada has a poor record of resource use, and over 90 per cent of material extracted for use in manufacturing goes to waste. We can improve energy efficiency by applying energy efficiency standards for appliances, passenger vehicles, homes and commercial buildings. Also, improving water efficiency standards, shifting to renewable energy sources like wind, solar and micro-hydro will help us achieve this goal.
  
  
• Eliminate waste and pollution:  Canada can become a world leader in changing how we produce and consume goods in order to eliminate waste and pollution. All forms of waste (solid, liquid and gaseous) are signs of either poor design or inefficiency. Eliminating waste means designing production and consumption processes and patterns so that waste is not created. In addition to reducing environmental impacts, reducing waste can produce economic opportunities, create jobs, and save money. By designing smartly, the end and byproducts of manufactured goods can enter one of two streams: the biological or industrial stream. Items in the biological stream must be capable of safely biodegrading while items in the industrial stream – like metals – must be used over and over in the industrial economy. Packaging materials must be biodegradable or reusable/recyclable.
  
  
• Building sustainable cities:  Canadian cities can be internationally renowned for being vibrant, clean, livable, prosperous, safe and sustainable. We can achieve these goals by promoting regional and national planning that integrates transportation, land-use and environmental planning; ensuring municipal infrastructure is sustainable and based on smart growth; ending urban sprawl which has significant economic, social and environmental costs. Sprawl causes air pollution, water pollution, habitat destruction, gridlock, and loss of productive farmland. It costs considerably more to build new roads, electrical lines, and sewer and water infrastructure for new subdivisions and shopping centres than to integrate people into existing areas.

1.Kennedy, Robert F., Recapturing America’s Moral Vision in RFK: Collected Speeches Viking Penguin, New York (1968) p. 329-30

OECD data showing Canada finishing 28th or 29 countries surveyed can be found at www.environmentalindicators.com
      
Sustainability Within a Generation: A new vision for Canada is written by environmental lawyer and professor David R. Boyd.  He recently published Unnatural Law: Rethinking Canadian Environmental Law and Policy.

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