The Canadian Index of Wellbeing's Environment Report is the the 8th in a series leading up to the formulation of the Canadian Composite Index of Wellbeing.
The Report highlights the strong connections between the environment - one of eight quality-of-life categories measured by the CIW - and other aspects of Canadian wellbeing.
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 emissions, good water quality, and healthy forest bird populations, says the Environment Report.
The report finds:
Among the Report's key findings:
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are rising - up 24% since 1990;
- 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;
- The effective supply of water in Southern Canada shrank by 8.5% over the past 30 years;
- Increased waste generation (up in nearly every province and territory in the country);
- We have been fishing-down the food chain – Average maximum fish lengths shrunk from 111 cm. in 1950 to 55 cm. in 1994 to 46 cm. in 2006.
A copy of the full report can be downloaded from the Canadian Index of Wellbeing website.
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Report Highlights (PDF 345KB)
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Full Report (PDF 2MB)
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Ideas for Positive Change (PDF 85KB)
