Healthy and thriving soil ecosystems can help Canada meet its global climate change commitments and economic goals for the agricultural sector. A new Metcalf-funded report from Équiterre and the Greenbelt Foundation explores how and why farmers adopt soil health practices, provides an overview of Canada’s current agri-environmental policy and programming landscape, and looks at innovative policies from other jurisdictions.

Effective ways for Canada to leverage Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) are investigated in a Metcalf-funded report authored by Dr. Risa Smith, Chair of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas Climate Change Specialist Group. The report explores how protecting intact ecosystems with high carbon and biodiversity values can be an effective approach for achieving short-term climate results in Canada.

A range of opportunities and challenges for Indigenous-led conservation and carbon storage in Canada are identified in a new Metcalf-funded report from the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. Emerging from a two-year research and engagement project, the report is informed by five components: a literature review, in-person gathering, individual interviews, the creation of eight short films, and mapping work that identifies carbon storage values across the country in relation to Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas.

This year’s report by the Green Budget Coalition  focuses on a comprehensive set of recommendations for how the federal government can follow-through on its commitment to a green recovery.

Farmers for Climate Solutions, a Metcalf grantee, is quickly emerging as key farmer-led coalition focused on advancing climate solutions in agriculture. In response to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, the organization has produced a set of recommendations for how farmers can play an important role in the context of a green recovery.

Nature-based solutions to climate change could enable 30-40% of the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions required to keep warming capped below 2°C by 2030. These solutions include planting forests and protecting carbon-rich ecosystems. Findings from a Metcalf-funded workshop that convened Indigenous leaders with environmental organizations and researchers support the literature indicating that nature-based solutions are more likely to succeed when Indigenous Peoples are involved.

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

Co-authored by Smart Prosperity Institute researchers, Katherine Monahan and Ben Filewood, with support from Metcalf and the McCall MacBain Foundation, this report is aimed towards policymakers and other stakeholders interested in nature-based climate solutions. The report describes potential policy tools that deliver GHG mitigation while also protecting or improving biodiversity.

Canada’s vast forests, grasslands, oceans, and wetlands provide essential ecosystem services that have already absorbed significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet these globally significant ecosystems could play a much bigger role in climate change mitigation with increased protection and wise stewardship. In the report, lead author Florence Daviet and her team present a road-map for both scientists and policymakers to use conservation strategies as a means to achieve climate and biodiversity goals.