Roadmap to Net-Zero
Our Priorities Restore Water and Nature
#ClimateActionNow
People depend on nature, and nature needs our protection. Restoring nature will reduce climate pollution and help us adapt to extreme weather events.
Water is life, and we need to stop taking it for granted.
The Green Party will protect and restore water and green spaces across Ontario, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.
When we do, green spaces will clean our air and water, improve mental and physical health, keep cities cooler, and reduce flooding. Natural spaces will again protect our lakes and rivers, the places of great beauty and joy that are part of everyone’s heritage, and the wild creatures with whom we share this province.
To restore water and nature, Ontario Greens will:
Protect Water
- Protect and restore watersheds, lakes and rivers.
- Strengthen and fund Conservation Authorities.
- Restore and expand wetlands and green infrastructure to clean stormwater and reduce flooding.
- Keep pollution out of water by updating and enforcing environmental protections.
Protect Farmland and Nature
- Permanently protect wetlands and prime farmland.
- Grow and enhance public parks.
- Work with Indigenous communities to conserve and protect at least 25% of Ontario by 2025, and 30% by 2030, especially areas of particular importance for water and wild creatures.
- Bring back nature in cities, starting with green roofs, school yards, and turning surplus parking lots into mini forests, creating spaces for communities to gather and children to play.
- Restore real protections for endangered species and a robust environmental assessment process.
- Support climate-smart agriculture and local sustainable food.
Nature-Based Solutions
- Protect and restore natural areas that sequester carbon, including grasslands and peatlands, and improve forest management.
- Allocate at least 15% of infrastructure spending to natural ecosystem features and materials, such as rivers, native plants and soil.
- Put green infrastructure first, using nature-based solutions whenever possible.