In early February, over 400 leaders from across the country gathered in Ottawa for the Nature-Based Climate Solutions Summit. This two-day summit was organized by a collection of Canada’s leading nature and conservation organizations, and Metcalf along with the Government of Canada were the presenting sponsors. Representatives from Indigenous, federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments were in attendance, as were leaders from the not-for-profit, private, and public sectors.

The summit’s goal was to move from big ideas to specific actions on nature-based climate solutions in Canada, and the program agenda was organized around major ecosystems – forests, farmlands, grasslands, wetlands and marine – each with significant biodiversity, carbon, and cultural values. Featured work included Indigenous-led conservation, sustainable agriculture and forestry, natural infrastructure management, and much more. Overarching strategies to advance this timely work, such as protection, restoration, and stewardship activities, were discussed along with enabling tools like finance, policy, and legal mechanisms.

This final summit report provides an overview of featured speakers, topics discussed, along with hyperlinks to video recordings of each summit session.