Soaring greenhouse gasses, increasing waste
generation and energy use, declining stocks of large fish species,
and shrinking water supplies in parts of the country - are
offsetting gains like reduced air pollution emission levels, good
water quality, and healthy forest bird populations, said a new
Environment Report released today by the Canadian Index of
Wellbeing (CIW).

“Canada isn’t in a crisis
situation today, but there are clear warning signs of potential
threats to our environment and wellbeing, and we ignore them at our
peril,” said The Honourable Roy J. Romanow, Chair of the CIW
Advisory Board.

“We are huge consumers of natural resources with a seemingly
endless and unsustainable appetite for fossil fuels, water, metals
and energy. We have an unsustainable economic model built around
producing, consuming and throwing away things - many of which we
don’t actually need. Some of these trends could eventually result
in poorer health, a weaker economy, lower standard of living, and
diminished quality of life.”

What are these trends?

• Air quality is showing mixed signs but is still problematic and
  is costly to Canadians’ health, particularly in large
  traffic-congested cities.
  
  
  
  



• Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Canada is heading in
  the wrong  direction to avoid dangerous climate change.
  
  
  
  



• Canadians continue to be large consumers and producers of
  hydrocarbon energy. Reserve levels are stable but their projected
  lifespan is declining due to growing demand.
  
  
  
  



• Water quality is good, but supplies are shrinking in parts of
  the country and, combined with high demand, raise concerns for the
  future.
  
  
  
  



• Canadians are consuming more and disposing more. There are some
  signs of reduced consumption in the last few years, but it remains
  to be seen whethert his was because of actual behaviour change or
  the onset of the recession.
  
  
  
  



• Recycling is increasing but not enough to reduce total
  waste.
  
  
  
  



• Many Canadian species are struggling, especially freshwater
  fish, grassland birds,reptiles and amphibians.
  
  
  
  



• Our rich forest ecosystems are not sustainable; depletion rates
  are exceeding growth rates.
  
  
  
  



• There is not enough environmental monitoring and existing data
  is largely old and inaccessible -  in contrast to economic
  data.
  
  
  
  

Among the Report’s other key findings:

• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are rising - up
  24% since 1990. Canada is heading
  in the wrong direction to avoid dangerous climate change. We are
  amongst the highest per capita emitters in the world, second only
  to the U.S. More than half of our GHG emissions are produced by the
  oil, gas and coal industries (which accounts for 22% of emissions),
  transportation (also 22%) and electricity production via utilities
  (16%).
  
  
  
  



• Ground-level ozone is increasing, and as a
  contributing factor to respiratory disease in parts of the country,
  should be a growing concern to urban Canadians.
  
  
  
  



• Non-renewable fossil fuels still make up 90% of our
  primary energy production. While we’re generating more
  electricity from wind, solar and tidal sources than in the past, it
  represents less than 0.5% of total generation.
  
  
  
  



• The effective supply of water in Southern class=”xn-location”>Canada shrank by 8.5% over the
  past 30 years. When combined with increasing demand, this causes
  concern for the Prairies, the Okanagan, Southern Ontario and the
  St. Lawrence Valley. This can
  restrict recreational activities like fishing, boating, and use of
  community pools.
  
  
  
  



• Increased waste generation (up in nearly every province
  and territory in the country) is a concern to community
  vitality (given the divisive nature of landfills/incinerators) and
  time use (as we spend more hours to buy more “stuff”).
  
  
  
  



• We have been fishing-down the food chain,
  reducing the population of the larger more desirable species such
  as swordfish and cod. Altered marine food webs are jeopardizing the
  economic and recreational wellbeing of coastal populations, and
  leaving ecosystems less able to cope with natural or human-induced
  change. Average maximum fish lengths shrunk from 111 cm. in 1950 to
  55 cm. in 1994 to 46 cm. in 2006.

“If we don’t have a healthy planet, we won’t have a healthy
society,” said CIW Director Bryan
Smale. “One of the main goals of the CIW is to show the
interconnections among the many dimensions of our wellbeing -
taking into account the full range of social, health,
environmental, and economic concerns of citizens.”

The report concluded that the choices we make as a society will
determine whether we face a distressed future or a better quality
of life. The challenge remains how to optimize wellbeing
for both humans and other species, rather than maximize
one domain of wellbeing such as economic growth. It called for more
far-sighted policies and enforcement by government, better
stewardship by industry, and lifestyle changes by individuals.

Download the href=”/Libraries/Documents/Environment_Highlights_EN.sflb.ashx”
target=”_blank”>report highlights or the href=”/Libraries/Documents/Environment_Full_Report_EN.sflb.ashx”
target=”_blank”>full report here, and a supplementary paper href=”/Libraries/Documents/Environment_Ideas_for_Positive_Change_EN.sflb.ashx”
target=”_blank”>Ideas for Positive Change.

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) is a new way of
measuring wellbeing that provides unique insights into the quality
of life of Canadians - overall, and in specific areas such as:
living standards, health, environment, education, time use,
community vitality, democratic engagement, and leisure and culture.
It is produced by the CIW Network, based in the Faculty of Applied
Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. For more
information, visit target=”_blank”>www.ciw.ca.