A non-profit group dedicated to protecting the world's ecosystems is now on board with Ottawa's efforts on freshwater restoration.
The federal government announced plans to join over 30 countries in the Freshwater Challenge, calling attention to protecting Canada's freshwater systems. That decision has gotten praise from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada.
The pledge was first made earlier this year by six countries at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York. Canada signed on earlier this month at the UN's Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates.
Twenty per cent of the world's freshwater reserves are in Canada.
"People may be wondering why we're talking about freshwater at a climate conference. But healthy and productive rivers, lakes, wetlands, and peatlands are critical carbon stores that lessen the impacts of climate change-related extreme weather events," said WWF Canada Vice-President of Restoration and Regeneration Elizabeth Hendriks. "We thank the government of Canada for joining the Freshwater Challenge and look forward to working side by side in supporting freshwater protection and restoration in a meaningful way that will help us meet our climate and biodiversity targets."
WWF Canada says the goal is to ensure that 300,000 kilometres of degraded rivers, and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands, are committed to restoration by 2030. That's an area the size of India.
The organization says almost four billion, just over half the total world population, experience water scarcity for at least one month of the year. Three-quarters of all recent natural disasters have involved water or a lack thereof.
WWF Canada has produced a YouTube video showcasing efforts to protect an area of freshwater in British Columbia.