PS 2-27 - A landscape Analysis of Nature-based Solutions in Canada

Background/Question/Methods

If Canada is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, a combination of emissions reductions and innovative carbon sequestration solutions are needed. Nature-based solutions (NbS) can mitigate carbon emissions, protect biodiversity and provide multiple ecosystem services that improve the well-being of humanity; however their performance is poorly understood. We assessed publicly available data from current projects in Canada that could be considered Nature-based Solutions according to the IUCN Nature-based Solutions framework. We assessed 60 illustrative funding programs spanning over 300 project examples to begin to identify trends in funding schemes, partnerships and success metrics in order to have a baseline for how future collaborations might work. We searched publicly available websites of Indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry, and Government of Canada to compile a list of NbS projects, to illustrate potential trends in these three NbS categories: Government, Industry and Indigenous.

Results/Conclusions

In the government, industry, and Indigenous-led projects we assessed, project details are often vague and unclear, while performance metrics are generally not standardized and not independently assessed. Overall, very few projects have clear and transparent funding reports and schemes. When projects reported to have monitoring in place, details were often unclear and vague. Monitoring data were not publicly available. No common performance standards across initiatives were clearly stated. Each NbS project had its own performance metrics or individual monitoring framework (e.g. fish species inventory, tree species inventory, remote sensing analysis of tree cover). These gaps render NbS monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) difficult to standardize and properly integrate in Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDC). Industry-led projects lack the most transparency among the three groups, excluding any information regarding project monitoring or the structure of the project, whereas government-led projects were the most transparent with reporting and monitoring done to some extent. A baseline understanding of success can inform future funding schemes and partners. Further, an improved understanding of the multiple benefits supported by particular NbS can help managers prioritize actions that support biodiversity, carbon storage, and resilience goals.