Fighting for a Biodiverse Future: How Canadian climate leaders are preserving ecosystems from their own backyards

In a very Canadian episode of Cities 1.5, David discusses the urgent need for both local and global climate action with a focus on biodiversity with Mayor Valérie Plante of Montréal and Elizabeth Hendricks from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Canada. They share insights on urban biodiversity initiatives, the impact and outcomes of COP15 and COP16, and the importance of integrating nature-based solutions to combat the climate crisis. The episode also highlights the critical role cities play in preserving natural ecosystems, supporting public health, and ensuring a sustainable future where all can thrive.

Image Credit: Donovan Kelly @ Pexels

Featured guests:
Mayor Valérie Plante has served as the Mayor of Montréal since 2017.

Elizabeth Hendriks is a freshwater policy specialist and Vice President of Restoration and Regeneration at WWF Canada.

Links: 

WWF Living Planet Report 2024: A Planet in Crisis
Degradation of nature could reduce UK GDP by 12 per cent - UN Environment Programme
Last-minute pledges and sobering science: Where is the World, Post-COP28? Cities 1.5 podcast, featuring Professor Xuemei Bai
Arctic impacts: The human cost of melting ice - Cities 1.5 podcast, featuring Sheila Watt-Cloutier
COP15 ends with landmark biodiversity agreement - UN Environment Programme
The Darlington ecological corridor: a green link in CDN-NDG - City of Montréal
Video featuring Sadiq Khan, “Doers not Delayers” - C40 Cities Instagram
Montréal Breaks Ground on City’s Largest-Ever ‘Sponge Park’ - Stormwater Report
Montréal biodome
WWF Canada re:grow program
COP16 ends in disarray and indecision despite biodiversity breakthroughs - The Guardian
Freshwate

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Transcript

David 00:00 

[Cities 1.5 main theme music] I'm David Miller and you're listening to Cities 1.5, a podcast exploring how cities are leading global change through local climate action. 

[urgent music] The beauty of the natural world is truly unparalleled. If you can close your eyes and reflect on what your most precious memory of our planet is. Perhaps you're underwater, swimming admits the corals and fish of the Great Barrier Reef. [ocean bubbles] Or, are you watching the wildebeest migration move through the East African Savannah [birds call] and the predators who follow closely behind [lion grunts]? 

Maybe you're on the banks of the Amazon River, immersed in the sensory overload of the rainforest, and all the noises of all creatures that live there. [insects trill] 

Perhaps you're enjoying a starry night, looking up at the clear skies above the Himalayas, or in a city like Edmonton, with its incredible North Saskatchewan River Valley, [river roars] or enjoying the splendid isolation, spectacular scenery, and creaking of the glaciers in the Arctic Circle [glaciers crack]. [music ends]  

[driving music] I live in Canada and I've been lucky to experience nature in the Arctic by canoe, in Northern Ontario by canoe, and in our beautiful Rocky Mountains by foot. We live in an unparalleled country in terms of natural beauty. It's extraordinary. But, if we don't change course soon and stop the burning of fossil fuels, all of these memories will become just that. 

Collapsed ecosystems will mean that glaciers and corals and rainforests will become as unreal to our descendants as dinosaurs are to us. According to the Living Planet Report from the World Wide Fund for Nature, wildlife vertebrae species have declined 73% since 1970, and freshwater ecosystems have declined an astonishing 85%. This and other recent reports on the health of the biodiversity of our planet are chilling. [music fades out]  

[delicate, sombre music] But, it's not just the beauty of the natural world that we'll lose. Biodiversity encompasses and supports the health of people and planet. In our current system, most of the impact we have on biodiversity is negative. The ecosystems we are failing to protect are naturally-occurring carbon sinks, and if we continue to acidify and boil our oceans, turn over biodiverse temperate forest to agri-business, melt our ice caps, destroy peatlands and burn our rainforests, we'll lose the natural world's ability to absorb carbon dioxide. This means our planet will heat faster and we risk breaching planetary boundaries, which we cannot return from. [music fades out] 

[driving, pensive music] These breaches may tip our planet into complete ecological disaster, which will impact on all of humanity. Here's what Professor Xuemei Bai told us last season. 

Xuemei Bai 03:38 

A tipping point is a moment or a critical threshold when a small change or series of small changes become really significant enough to actually cause a larger, and often dramatic, change. It's a point of no return, and once you have crossed a tipping point, things can't really easily go back to how they were functioning before, and there's a new set of conditions or realities to really handle.  

David 04:04 

[music continues] All of us rely on ecosystems for healthy food, potable water, and clean air to breathe. Indigenous communities are on the front lines of the biodiversity massacre, with their habitats, food sources, and way of life rapidly being destroyed. Since 1992, biodiversity has been having its own Conference of the Parties or COP meetings to try and halt the dire consequences for people and planet, and urban biodiversity has become even more important in that time. 

C40 is doing great work in preserving and protecting our natural world through its Urban Nature Declaration, where cities commit to further big investments in urban nature to protect cities from the impacts of the climate crisis, and ensure everyone has access to green spaces. But, much more is required to protect our natural world, and action does not happen without political will. It's vital to harness city leadership on this issue to push the needle on the global stage. [music continues then ends] 

[light, rhythmic music] On this week's episode, we'll be hearing from two women who are leaders in the field of biodiversity in my country of Canada. Both have been doing so much to ensure that the protection of the natural world, and all those who depend on it to survive and thrive, remain centre stage at a local, city, regional, national, and global level. 

We'll be speaking to a former colleague of mine at the World Wide Fund for Nature, or WWF, to get the lowdown on where the world stands after the recent COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, which also happens to be the world's most biodiverse country. 

But first, I speak to a Canadian mayor and returning guest whose efforts in the field of biodiversity led to a world-leading declaration at COP 15 in Montréal two years ago, and whose work prioritizing urban biodiversity is world leading. [music ends]  

Valérie Plante 06:15  

[rotary dial telephone rings] [clicks] I'm Valérie Plante. I'm the Mayor of the City Of Montréal, and I'm talking to you directly from City Hall here in Montréal. [receiver chimes, replaced in cradle] 

David 06:26 

Mayor, thanks so much for speaking with us today.  

Valérie Plante 06:29  

Well, it's a pleasure, and welcome to City Hall.  

David 06:33 

This is such a beautiful building. It's really fabulous. And, your staff are fantastic, as well.  

Valérie Plante 06:40  

I mean, talking about climate change is definitely a subject that matters to all the team. You know, we made it a priority, so I'm glad that, you know, they were all there to welcome you.  

David 06:51 

Montréal hosted COP 15, the Biodiversity COP. First of all, can you just speak about you, Mayor Valérie Plante? Why do you care so much about biodiversity?  

Valérie Plante 07:05  

I feel like biodiversity, it's an amazing way for people to understand what climate change is about because people will feel the heat waves, people will feel that maybe in their parks there's less, you know, birds or butterflies, or the food they eat. You know, it's all about what people see in their day-to-day life. Biodiversity is parks, it's trees, it's flowers, it's the water.  

In Montréal, we are an island, so we have shores, and we also have a beautiful mountain in the middle of the island. It's such a unique, [laughs] I would say, place to be, so I find that protecting biodiversity is not only the right thing to do, because it contributes to the entire, you know, food chain and how, if we want to be moving forward as humankind, then we need to be protecting the entire biodiversity. But also, again, I think it's a great way for people that sometimes will say, "Ah, climate change. What is that? You know, I'll be dead anyway," or stuff like that.  

Then, we need to bring it back to something very concrete to them, and protecting biodiversity and making sure there's more around them, that they have access to green spaces, they're like, "Okay. I want that for me now, but I also want that for my children and then my grandchildren." So, I think it's a very concrete way to act because, ultimately, as the Mayor Of Montréal, what I'm trying to do is to act on three fronts: the one is to diminish, reduce our emissions; the second one is how do we adapt the territory to flooding, heat waves, flash rain; and the third one is protecting the biodiversity that is so important. It's crucial, actually. 

David 08:48 

Well, Montréal's taken a number of steps under your government's leadership to really green the city. Are there some highlights, from your perspective, of those programs that you'd like to speak to?  

Valérie Plante 09:03  

Sure. I mean, when we took office in 2017, the first thing that we decided to do was to protect some of the last remaining green lands on the Island of Montréal. It was supposed to be built on and we thought, you know, "We need to protect those," and especially because they're also acting as a sponge if there's flooding, so it didn't make any sense to us. 

So, we protected it. We created the green-- a huge park, the biggest park on the Island of Montréal. Also, on the mountain that I was just talking about earlier, the mountain is beautiful. It's important. And so, there is a road that goes across and we will close that road and make it more of a pedestrian and cyclist access. And, why is that? Because the mountain, which is a beautiful park, is Parc du Mont-Royal, which was designed by Olmsted, same one as Central Park, as so much biodiversity in it and on it, but there's so much more people living in the City Of Montréal, like any other cities, that there's more people walking on it, using it, and enjoying the mountain. And now, the mountain is like [inhales sharply] suffocating a little. So, we will take cars out of the mountain and we will, you know, make it accessible for more people. 

And finally, we're doing green corridors, which is amazing because it's kind of a linear park, but across the island, in one of them, it's called the Darlington Green Corridor, but to me I call it like "the Fox Corridor." Because we created a corridor, foxes are back on the island because they did find their way. There used to be foxes on the island. Because of the buildings and stuff, they left. And, now they're back.  

So, I love it. I love the idea that, you know, biodiversity always finds its way, if we think about it in a very careful way, working with scientists, as well. We also made finally, a bylaw to protect the... How does it call the bees? What's the...? The pollinisateurs. I don't know how to say that in English. 

David 11:03 

Pollinators. 

Valérie Plante 11:03  

Thank you. [laughs] But, you know, so we also created... Like, now we don't cut all the grass, you know, everywhere, a lot of things like that, where people are like, "What? Not cutting the grass anymore?!" We're like, "Yeah, it's for the bees." 

David 11:19 

It's very interesting you speak to the wildlife corridors because, during COVID, one thing we heard people talking about was seeing the wildlife in a positive sort of way. It touched people's hearts a little bit.  

Valérie Plante 11:33  

Absolutely. I think that during the COVID, people also realized how much the parks in Montréal—and we have a lot. We're quite the green city—but people really realized how important it was for their physical health, but for their mental health.  

[delicate, sombre music] And, since then, I mean, even before, it wasn't too hard for me to push to create more green spaces. But now, people are just like, "More, more, more," so that's what we do. Every opportunity I have, we buy land, we transform it, we plant trees, because this is what people are looking for and I understand.  

David 12:10 

And they're embracing the chance to be pedestrians and cyclists.  

Valérie Plante 12:14  

Exactly. I mean, you know, there's always pros and cons, of course, but ultimately there's always more place for trees, and at one point, if it means less cars, I think we should choose the trees. 

David 12:26 

[music continues] So, Montréal was the host—and you were the host—of COP 15, the Biodiversity Summit, and in that summit, there was a real focus on the leadership of cities on biodiversity, and you, yourself, spoke very powerfully at multiple times at that event. [music fades out] Can you speak to the importance Of Montréal being the host of the Biodiversity Summit, COP 15, and also to the responsibility of cities to lead on these issues of biodiversity in an international way? 

Valérie Plante 13:02  

Yeah, absolutely, because of course, most people will be more familiar with the COPs when it comes to climate change and reducing emissions, which is fantastic, and that's absolutely necessary. And, when it comes to biodiversity, maybe, it was less popular or maybe less known, so I'm glad that the COP 15 happened in Montréal because it gave us the opportunity to show the world, not only what Montréal is capable of and how we want to position ourselves in North America and around the world, but also to welcome so many—I think it was 200, you know—countries that were there, and it was an opportunity for us mayors—you know, leaders, local leaders—to show how cities are part of the solution in such a concrete way. 

I always come back to that, you know. I think Sadiq Khan loves to say that governments are delayers and cities are doers, and, you know, I think it makes a lot of sense in many contexts, but it was an opportunity at this COP to have cities sitting together, being at the front table, also bringing forward ideas and their intention, because again, we're bold on that front. 

In Montréal, we decided to create the Montréal Pledge. We brought, at this point, we have 63 cities. It's more than 100 million people now that are being part of the Montréal Pledge, which creates the opportunity for cities to do direct action to protect biodiversity. So, I'm really proud of that. I'm proud because I truly believe in biodiversity. The C40 believes in biodiversity, and this is why I'm so proud to be sitting at the table with my other colleagues. 

And, the Montréal-Kunming Agreement, coming out of the COP 15, was the most important one at this point, which is to protect, you know, 30% of the entire biodiversity. I'm very proud of that.  

David 15:00 

I think Montréal shows the way when it builds new parks-- 

Valérie Plante 15:05  

Yes. 

David 15:05 

--that can also be places that accommodate the water from extreme storms. 

Valérie Plante 15:08  

Exactly. 

David 15:08 

—w hen it builds wildlife corridors, when it thinks about pollinators, when it makes parks better places for people.  

Valérie Plante 15:15  

Mm-hmm, absolutely.  

David 15:17 

So, perhaps there was a chance to start reversing this trend, we hope.  

Valérie Plante 15:21  

Well, I mean, there's so much innovation happening, and we talk about the parks. It's true, that is something that is important to me, but we also started to create new types of parks or a multi-usage park, but we call them the sponge parks and we have sponge sidewalks, and now we're working on a sponge street, which is all about, "How do we adapt our territory to flooding or flash rains?" because that happens a lot more. And, it's all connected to biodiversity as well, right? 

So, innovation is everywhere, and, again, I do think, though it's important at the international level, state level, that decisions are being made and laws, and all that is important, but cities – cities have the ability to mobilize, bring people together, innovate, work at a smaller scale that, after, can be duplicated.  

David 16:16 

Well, it's an excellent point and your passion comes through, Mayor, and it's I think self-evident, from the perspective of someone looking at Montréal, that cities can lead and those ideas can be replicated.  

Valérie Plante 16:30  

Absolutely.  

David 16:32 

I understand that the Biodôme has been worked on and that you, personally, felt this was a really important-- 

Valérie Plante 16:43  

Yeah. Okay, well, the Biodôme is actually part of a bigger ensemble, which is we only have one big museum in Montréal, but it's the Museum of Nature, so there's the Biodôme, the Botanical Garden, the Planétarium, and Insectarium. 

[pensive music] So, the Biodôme is such a unique place. It used to be part of the Olympic installation, and that was the place for cyclists—indoor cyclists—and it was totally redone. And now, it welcomes, like, different ecosystems, and people have to see it because it's not only beautiful—I mean, the building itself—but to bring together, you have, like, the Saint Lawrence River, like fishes, and huge aquariums, and at the same time, you're going to have a tropical ecosystem. It is quite something, and all that lives within one building, but it's magical. You gotta go. 

David17:40 

Mayor Plante, I could listen to you and talk with you forever. I really appreciate you making the effort to be on Cities 1.5, but more importantly, appreciate, as a Canadian, your leadership on the local stage, the national stage, and the international stage. It's very much appreciated and has a major impact, so thank you so very much. 

Valérie Plante 18:04  

Well, thank you for having me. It was a pleasure, as always. [chuckles warmly] 

David 18:06 

Merci, Valérie. [music ends] 

[light, driving music] This episode of Cities 1.5 is produced by University of Toronto Press with generous support from C40 Cities. Want more access to current research on how city leaders are approaching climate action? We also publish the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy. Our mission is to publish timely, evidence-based research that contributes to the urban climate agenda and supports governmental policy towards an equitable and resilient world. The Journal serves as a platform for dynamic content that highlights ambitious, near-term climate action, with a particular focus on human-centred solutions to today's most pressing climate challenges. To read the latest issue, visit JCCPE.utpjournals.press or click on our link in the show notes. [music ends] 

Elizabeth Hendricks 19:10  

[rotary dial telephone rings] [clicks] My name is Elizabeth Hendricks and I'm the Vice President of Restoration and Regeneration at WWF Canada, and I am calling in from Halifax, the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people. [receiver chimes, replaced in cradle] 

David 19:24 

Liz, it's so great to talk to you on Cities 1.5. Welcome.  

Elizabeth Hendricks 19:29  

Thank you so much. It's great to have this time to chat with you, David.  

David 19:33 

So, for our listeners, and we have a global audience, as you know, can you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 19:43  

Yeah, I manage the Restoration and Regeneration Program and, really, it's a national restoration program. We run the program based on two really fundamental principles: we look at restoring complex ecosystems; and, where appropriate, and when we can be of service, we want that restoration to be Indigenous-led, with an Indigenous lens, as well.  

The program itself, as I mentioned, is national, but it has a few really important pillars. We touch down in priority regions across the country where we feel we can get the most benefit to people, to nature that's at risk, but also climate impacts and improving the opportunity to sequester carbon. 

We have a funding program we deliver for cities or large-scale landowners who want to do restoration in their lands. And important, I think, to your audience, we have a program called Regrow that's focused on individual school and campus program action, knowing everyone has a role to play in restoring nature and addressing climate change. 

And then, finally, a new program we've just launched at COP 16, which we can get into a bit later, is called Mission Restoration and this is about building a big tent around restoring nature in our communities, in our countryside, and knowing everyone has a role and finding out who's doing what and where, and building a movement around this really important target of restoring nature and reversing the decline of biodiversity.  

David 21:16 

It's fascinating, all the work that's going on through WWF, and we'll get into a lot more of that in a minute, but can you just explain what a complex ecosystem means, and maybe give an example so listeners can understand? 

Elizabeth Hendricks 21:28  

It's just this idea that we're trying to support nature to come back after we've disturbed it or paved over it or whatever we've done, it’s not just about thinking about one part of that ecosystem, so it's not just tree planting; it's soil health, it's water health, it's making sure water is free to flow through the ecosystems. We want to make sure that we're understanding that ecosystems require more than just one part of the system. It's not just returning foxes to the system; it's making sure there's a complexity there because, when a ecosystem is healthy, it's because there's complexity built into the system.  

David 22:14 

[delicate, sombre music] Got it. It's really clear that you've got a love for the natural world and nature. It's coming out in your voice already and, you know, we've only been talking for a few minutes. Can you talk about what sparked that love for nature for you, and your professional journey into protecting ecosystems?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 22:35  

It always comes down to those teachers, right? Grade two, I got to do ponding. We would bring in plants and bugs from the outside world and create ecosystems in our classroom. But, I also remember, in the process of getting out into nature, I would watch the water spiders glide along the tops of water and, even in grade two, you know, the seven-year old me didn't know the science behind what was happening. [music fades out] The magic of what you could see in nature just has stuck with me forever that, you know, it's amazing what nature... Photosynthesis is incredible! And, yeah, just that wonder has stuck with me my whole life. 

The other half of my story, which I think is really important, is I grew up in small, resource-based communities across the country and I saw both the richness in people and their passion for their communities, as well as some of the negative impacts of a boom-and-bust economy—mining, forestry, you name it, we have it in Canada—and it really empowered me to understand that people across this country do show up in really beautiful ways for their communities, and we can't take that passion for granted. [music fades out] 

And also, how we did resource extraction 10, 15, 20 years ago is much different than we can do it now and how we build our communities is different, and because we know better, we should be doing better, and so I think that really drives me in my career today.  

David 24:09 

That connection between economic activity and nature is a critical one and I think it'll come up more in our conversation. You know, unfortunately, what we're hearing all around the globe are incredibly alarming statistics about how quickly the planet is losing its biodiversity – animal species, insects, flora, fauna. Can you just speak to how serious the moment is, and why it's so worrying for the health of the planet and for the health of people?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 24:43  

These alarming statistics, I think, create an important urgency, but they also, you know, drive this hopelessness and I do want to take a minute to take some time on the alarming statistics because I do think they're important. WWF International releases a biannual report that's called the Living Planet Report, and we just released one last month that tells us that wildlife around the world, we're seeing populations of monitored vertebrate species have been declining. The average decline is 73% since 1970, and freshwater ecosystems are even worse, at 85% decline. So, globally, we're not going in the direction we want to see. And, in Canada, we do the same report—The Living Planet Report Card—and shout out, because it's going to be released in next year. It's coming. But, we see the same trends nationally as well and those declining trends. 

And, why is this so disastrous? What does this mean? I think wildlife has an inherent value. People love to get out in nature, whether it's the woods, on a river, urban park. Bird watching, or plant watching is a great pastime. Many people engage in that. But, these species, including humans—we're all part of the same ecosystem—we play this really important role to one other and in relationship to each other. Ecosystems are like a web—I mentioned this earlier—and if you pull one strand, the whole web is impacted, and I think we easily forget that, you know, you knock one of us over, others fall down, and there's that broader impact. 

And, science is telling us that we have this bigger impact on the natural world. It's causing climate change, it’s devastating impacts globally, and within Canada, and I think we also don't truly have this deep understanding yet of that full impact we have, as humans, on that complex web. So, when you cut down forests, we're reducing habitat for biodiversity. [gentle music] We're also impacting our food systems. Also, ecosystem functions like water and air purifications are really import important, so losing species in plant matter is impacting kind of our holistic path forward, and I think we really have to be mindful of our impact on the overall web.  

David 27:06 

You were just at COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, which is the biodiversity COP. I was at COP 15 last year in Montréal and there were some hints of optimism there of international cooperation, particularly around the role of cities, and an accord sign led by Mayor Plante of Montréal. [music fades out] 

How were things at COP 16? Can you speak to the outcomes? Is there progress, or have we stalled in our goal of protecting and increasing biodiversity?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 27:42  

So, I think there are two parts to negotiations. There are the global negotiations that happen every other year when you're trying to figure out globally how to achieve success. There are winners and losers and these things take time. I think there was some great success in terms of really important progress made to give Indigenous people a permanent seat at the negotiating table. So, until now, they didn't have a role; it was voluntary and could be disbanded at any time. But now, there's this permanent what's called a subsidiary body, led by an Indigenous caucus, that will apply traditional knowledge towards conservation. So, that is a great win. 

I think another really significant win is something called mainstreaming. It's making sure the discussions around biodiversity are being driven in every sector of society, so all our industries are talking about how they're managing their impacts to biodiversity, and Canada actually joined the High Ambition Group to push that mainstreaming agenda. 

So, we did see some progress. And, in negotiations, you know, failure to figure out financing, really there are kind of two parts of the financing issue. There's the, “How much money is being committed?” It's not nearly enough. Well, it will never be enough, but they definitely need to increase investment. But also, how that money is being distributed. Are you distributing global funds fairly and equitably? 

David 29:16 

I understand there were a huge number of lobbyists there from industries like meat, oil, pesticide. How did that impact things, and what's really the state of international cooperation in addressing biodiversity loss?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 29:31  

In Montréal, there was, I think it was 15,000 people came, and negotiators as well as the public. In Cali, there was 23,000 participants. And so, it wasn't just lobbyists. You know, the Green Zone, where it's open to the public, was packed every single day. So, I do actually want to celebrate this increase in interest and attention towards the biodiversity issues that we're facing because these events have been happening for climate. You know, they've just started the 29th COP for climate and for biodiversity. We're only at 16. And so, that we're increasing momentum on biodiversity issues is really important. That the public is paying attention to nature in a less politicized way, I think, is really promising and I hope that we can keep it that way.  

David 30:24 

That's a note of optimism, and it is interesting that in Cali, Colombia, there would be such a massive turnout of civil society because people care so deeply about nature.  

Elizabeth Hendricks 30:37  

It was really exciting to see, and it was great to see families engaged, and lots of questions and curiosity, and the city really pulled out all the stops to facilitate a public event. And then, when you were on the street talking with people, there was a real curiosity in people.  

David 30:52 

It's fantastic. I am absolutely certain the people— you know, there's such a movement for nature and, you know, in an urban context, people love trees, they love parks. Yeah, one of the threads in all of the biodiversity work, and in your work in particular, is water and protecting freshwater habitats and other habitats. Can you explain a bit about why water policy matters so much in the context of biodiversity and, you know, why rivers and lakes, for example, are such an important part of the ecosystem, and if and how they're under threat at the moment? 

Elizabeth Hendricks 31:33  

So, they are under threat and they're often undervalued. Freshwater ecosystems, at large, are undervalued and understudied, which is why I think we're seeing such a significant decline in freshwater ecosystem species. It's interesting because, when we survey Canadians and ask about the value of water, people say, "Well, it's part of our Canadian identity. Of course, I love my lake," or, "I love the river next to me," or the family cabin, but we do undervalue it, and rivers, you know, WWF released the Watershed Reports a few years ago and we saw high threats to our watersheds and a lack of understanding of that. 

So, there is a disconnect, but I think it's, ultimately, we forget that what we do on the land impacts the water and vice versa. Anything that's happening in the water will, in turn, impact the land. So, if you want to have a healthy agricultural industry, but you're polluting your river, it's a closed-loop cycle, so you really have to remember that connection and those links to freshwater ecosystems.  

David 32:50 

It's something that's close to my heart because I love to paddle and canoe. You know, that was where my deepest connection with nature started, although playing not in ponds, in a sheep wash when I was a little boy in England was one, as well. But, you know, for me, paddling a canoe on clean water and being able to drink it is how Canada should be, because that's how I found it when I first came here. 

And, we spoke last season to Al Pace, who runs Canoe North Adventures—he's one of Canada's leading paddlers—about the changes he's seen in Canada's Arctic due to the climate crisis. You know, he's paddled hundreds of thousands of kilometres of rivers in Canada's Arctic. We also spoke to Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the Indigenous leader and esteemed Canadian, about the existential threat that Indigenous communities face in the far north because of their dependence on rivers or on ice, depending how far north they are, and how they lack access to the same rights that most Canadians take for granted. Those rivers are a long way away from where most people live. 

Can you speak to the health of our northern ecosystems from the perspective of World Wildlife Fund and the work you lead? 

Elizabeth Hendricks 34:12  

Every watershed and rivers face some threat. Nothing is left untouched in Canada at this point. Whether we have dams on our rivers, whether climate change is the risk of either drought or flooding, pollution, everything has some level of threat. All our freshwater ecosystems have some level of threat, and I'm a hopeful person and I have to believe and pull on the strands of hope when I can. 

Over the past decade, I would say, there has been a very intentional focus on ensuring we have the right governance or policy structures in place to move forward and have better protection and stewardship for these ecosystems. So, Navigable Waters Act, we ensured the ten longest wild rivers are now safeguarded under the Navigable Waters Act in Canada. 

We have the Canadian Water Agency just launched last year, which is meant to bring attention and have a federal institution to address increasing issues due to climate change around fresh water. We have, the Canadian government has recently signed up to the Fresh Water Challenge, which is a commitment to restore wetlands and rivers. The global challenge is 350,000 hectares of wetlands and also 300,000 kilometres of river. So, Canada will have to set a target to what they're going to restore. And also, this attention to a rights-based approach in the Canada Water Act.  

David 35:53 

What's a rights-based approach? 

Elizabeth Hendricks 35:55  

Just recognizing rights and titles of nations across the country. 

So, all this to say is like if you're thinking about, “How do we protect our world, our natural world going forward?” part of success is making sure we have the right tools. At this point in time, I feel like we have the chess board set up for us to have a really successful game. 

David 36:17 

So, can you talk a bit about urban water? You know, you've spoken passionately about the progress made to, you know, get the chess board in place so we can start now playing the game. I'm stretching this analogy too far, but the structures there to at least start the conversations about addressing these ecosystem issues in a number of Canada's wild rivers. 

What about our urban waterways? You know, what can be done? Has WWF been involved in any work? Are there some good examples you can speak to that would show other city residents and mayors how to better protect and increase biodiversity in cities?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 37:02  

One of the most exciting things and developments I have been watching, and we've been investing in at WWF, is nature-based climate solutions. So, what is a nature-based solution? It's finding the most efficient way to help nature do its job when fighting climate crisis and the biodiversity loss. So, harnessing the power of nature to help people adapt to climate impacts, and cities are the best-placed scale to really get down into that nature-based solution and green infrastructure, right? 

So, that can be opening up a wetland to help manage flood mitigation. That can be changing pavement practices to address flooding. That can be more tree planting. So, we have worked in the past with Fredericton for tree planting and managing the lands that are on a floodplain because Fredericton is facing, increasing-- the 100-year floods annually. [laughs wryly] The rate of flooding happening in New Brunswick is incredible, and working with cities to manage that adaptation tools, using nature, is really exciting. 

So, another part of our programming, I mentioned Regrow earlier, and it's about recognizing that there's a role of cities and infrastructure and nature-based solutions. There's also a role for individual action and what's happening on your backyard, or on your balcony, or on your rooftop, and really facilitating those solutions so everyone has a role to play.  

David 38:42 

If everyone's going to have a role to play, everyone has to buy in. What would you say to people who would say, "Well, man is the steward of nature. We can do what we want and, you know, we need to steer it our way. I'm not worried." How would you talk to them about preserving our natural world and the importance of protecting ecosystems, and what might happen if we don't?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 39:06  

Well, in terms of humans being stewards of nature, I think, every time there's a major climate event, it's pretty clear humans aren't stewarding nature and we are getting slammed. You know, the hurricanes, you know, that devastated Florida and other states is not humans managing nature anymore. So, like, I think we need to divest ourselves of this belief that we can steward nature because, you know, we've seen enough examples of nature taking us down. 

But, I would say to these people, "How we treat nature boomerangs back to us," and so when we work on that relationship with nature and build with nature, we see less risk in your community. So, I often go back to this idea of, "If you don't think climate change is real or that we're losing biodiversity, imagine environmental management to protect the investment of sidewalks, of roads, of schools, of energy infrastructure." It's less about fighting against the politics of the science and more about, "We have this built environment that we need to be responsible for. We know there's proven techniques in nature-based solutions and green infrastructure that are more efficient and effective at managing those infrastructures." 

So, do I need them to buy into climate science, or do I need them to buy into the importance of protecting the infrastructure that costs us so much [laughs wryly] as a society? 

David 40:50 

I want to speak to a bit of what a positive vision might look like, and we're asking all of our guests this season the same question. In the context of the conversation we've just had, what does a good life mean to you, Liz Hendricks, and for all of us who engage, support, and depend on our beautiful and biodiverse natural world?  

Elizabeth Hendricks 41:14  

Nature will find a way, regardless of our philosophies, and there's two sides to one coin. We have rights to a healthy environment or managing environment—however you want to put it—but you also have a responsibility. So, how are we, as individuals, or through our religion, or through our different communities, choosing to represent our responsibilities? 

Now, I love this question, "What does a good life mean to me, personally?" I will give you part of a George Bernard Shaw poem:  

"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations.” 

[pensive music] So, the torch I decided to carry through my life and career is this work to steward, protect, and conserve nature, recognizing this rights and responsibility that I have. 

I get this nature and fresh water and clean water and access to nature and clean air, and I also have a responsibility. And so, growing up in these communities that were resource-extraction dependent, I do feel the sense of responsibility. I have this great opportunity and this great privilege to give back, and so I'll leave you with those very earnest thoughts. 

David 42:46 

Earnest and beautiful. Liz Hendricks, thank you for those thoughts, thank you for your time today, but more importantly, thank you for your ongoing work to protect not just Canada's biodiversity, but biodiversity globally. It's very much appreciated. Thank you.  

Elizabeth Hendricks 43:00  

Thank you for having me. [music ends]  

David 43:00 

[energetic, upbeat music] As the WWF says, biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you'll find in one area – the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems like an intricate web to maintain balance and support life. 

If we cannot preserve biodiversity, then all creatures on Earth, including us and the planet itself, cannot survive, let alone thrive, which is what we all deserve. We need to support political movements and economic systems that prioritize the health of people and planet over profit and unbridled, extractive capitalism. It's the only way to make the changes that the natural world and humanity so desperately need. [music continues then ends] 

[Cities 1.5 main theme music] The next episode of Cities 1.5 is the last one of this season, and to finish our deep dive into the intersection of health and climate, we're bringing you a double header. As the climate crisis worsens and deepens, robust scientific evidence is increasingly necessary to inform the effective health policies we need to protect us against disease, extreme heat, air pollution, and more, so we're speaking with Dr Stella Hartinger Pena, the Regional Director for Latin America of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, about their latest report about the health impacts of the climate crisis and what we need to do to protect against them. 

We'll also hear from Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans about how the city and its residents have pulled together to build back after devastating extreme weather events, prioritizing resilience and adaptation to better protect people and planet. You won't want to miss it. 

[Cities 1.5 main theme music continues] This has been Cities 1.5, leading global change through local climate action. I'm David Miller. I was the Mayor of Toronto, Canada, and I know, firsthand, the role cities can play in solving the climate crisis. Currently, I'm the Editor in Chief of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, published by the University of Toronto Press in collaboration with the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy, where I'm also the Managing Director. C40's mission is to use the voices and the actions of its member mayors to help the world avoid climate breakdown. 

[music continues] Cities 1.5 is produced by University of Toronto Press in association with the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40 Cities. This podcast is produced by Jessica Schmidt, and edited by Morgane Chambrin. Our executive producers are Peggy Whitfield and Calli Eliopoulos. Our music is by Lorna Gilfedder. 

The fight for a healthier world is closer than you think. To learn more, visit the show's website, linked in the episode notes. See you next time. [main theme music continues then ends]