Media Clipping — Vol 34, Number 4, 2008 Alternatives Journal

Legislating Sustainability: Nova Scotia’s new law marries environmental sustainability and economic prosperity.

By John Brazner

The Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act. Now there’s a piece of legislation begging for an acronym. Tongue twister or not, this law certainly has Nova Scotians talking about what it means for the province.

Countries such as Finland, Norway and New Zealand have progressive legislation that links the economy and the environment. British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario have greenhouse gas reduction plans, but Mark Parent, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Environment, believes, “Nova Scotia is the first province in Canada to legislate such a broad range of environmental targets with the explicit intention of fostering sustainable economic prosperity.”

Passed in April, 2007, the EGSPA mandates management of the environment and the economy “for the benefit of present and future generations." It states that the long-term environmental and economic objective of the province is to “fully integrate environmental sustainability and economic prosperity.” As a way of meeting this objective, the EGSPA legislates the province’s commitment to its economic development strategy and defines two primary goals that test the act’s guiding principle. The first goal is that Nova Scotia will have “one of the cleanest and most sustainable environments in the world by 2020” and the second is that the province’s economic performance will be “equal to or above the Canadian average by 2020.” Equally impressive are the act’s specific targets.

The EGSPA is the result of a convergence in thinking among a variety of government departments, business leaders, academics and the nonprofit community. Minister Parent says it is primarily founded on the ideas contained in four documents: Green Plan: Towards a Sustainable Environment (2003), the Department of Economic Development’s economic development strategy, the 2004 interim report of the Premier’s Advisory Council on Innovation and NovaKnowledge’s 2005-2006 Report Card on the Environmental Economy. It also stems from Nova Scotia’s success in reaching its year 2000 target of a 50-per-cent reduction in solid waste. The fact that meeting this target helped to solve an environmental problem and created jobs, opened the eyes of some of the EGSPA’s key architects to what might be possible if this approach was used on a broader scale.

One of the EGSPA’s key architects, Bill Lahey, deputy minister of environment at the time the bill was written, says that one strength of the act lies in “the fact that targets are embodied in law, and progress towards them must be accounted for annually by the minister.” The fact that the minister must seek advice from the 19-member Nova Scotia Round Table on Environment and Sustainable Prosperity in preparing its annual report and for a mandatory five-year public review should increase the likelihood that targets will be met. In addition, the five-year review provides a mechanism for amendments and improvements, so that, according to Lahey, “slippage can be identified and targets can be modified or reprioritized.”

Another of the act’s strengths is that it pulls together policy and targets that span many different government departments into a single document that is accessible to the average citizen, and provides a common framework from which solutions can be developed. Although the wording isn’t as clear as it could be, the EGSPA suggests that solutions be derived from collaborations among the provincial government and stakeholders. It is not readily apparent who these stakeholders are, but Lahey suggests, “They will be the sorts of community groups, business proprietors, academics and government representatives that are already involved in developing natural resource strategies on water, forests and biodiversity for voluntary planning.” Lahey believes that Nova Scotia may be the perfect place to test a collaborative approach to governance since the province’s size means that you can almost always “put all the necessary and knowledgeable people into one small room and hammer out a solution.”

Though it’s surprising that no definition of sustainability was included in the act, the GPIAtlantic’s success in having “economic development” replace “economic growth” in the text increases the chances that the EGSPA will lead to sustainability. Ron Colman, executive director of GPIAtlantic, feels that the exchange is significant because “‘growth’ implies a bigger economy, while ‘development’ suggests there is value in qualitative changes that reflect well-being – this is basically Herman Daly’s idea that bigger is not necessarily better.”

Besides the focus on benefits to future generations and sustained quality of life, specific targets that link environmental sustainability to economic prosperity (e.g. redevelopment of contaminated sites), as well as the opportunities for private-government partnerships (e.g. co-operation on technology development) increase the likelihood that the EGSPA will lead to sustainable prosperity. However, the legislated commitment to the province’s economic development strategy is probably the most explicit aspect of the EGSPA that ties economic prosperity to sustained environmental health. This strategy is based on the assumption that Nova Scotia must become more efficient in order to maintain economic prosperity, and to become more efficient it must be a better steward and be less wasteful of the natural capital on which prosperity depends. This linkage incorporates the philosophy articulated by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their book “Cradle to Cradle,” which suggests that the re-invention of human industry based on the efficiency of nature is our best chance to achieve sustained prosperity.

So far, the bill has been quite well received, although there are concerns about specific targets and issues that were left unaddressed. The most positive sign of progress toward sustainability is related to the goal of protecting 12 per cent of Nova Scotia’s land by 2015. Nearly 25,000 hectares were conditionally set aside last year, “in large part in response to the target in the act” according to Minister Parent.

Like Ron Colman, Mark Butler, the policy director for the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, agrees that the new land commitments are a “good news story” and that the legislation is a significant step forward. However, both individuals feel that a number of the targets are not ambitious enough. They cite the greenhouse gas target (10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020) as an example, given that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recommended a 25- to 40-per-cent reduction by the same date. A number of environmental groups cited shortcomings, including the lack of targets focused on sustainable transportation and coastal development strategies, and only a limited focus on forest health.

A year into the EGSPA process, there is a clear feeling that although it isn’t perfect, the EGSPA reflects a substantially nuanced commitment to sustainability that shifts priorities to a fairly well-defined set of environmental targets and a sustainability-based economic strategy. The fact that targets are to be attained, in large part, through a non-prescriptive approach puts considerable pressure on Nova Scotians, both inside and outside of government. It remains to be seen whether this collaborative form of governance will get the job done. If it doesn’t, Lahey fears it may mean “a step back to old-style command and control.”

The fact that voluntary planning efforts are moving forward, and that Minister Parent considers targets to be minimums, seem like good omens. But keen oversight and enforcement of the act, as well as other related legislation and policy will be required if Nova Scotia is to attain the sustainable prosperity promised by the EGSPA.

Copyright © 2008, Alternatives Magazine