Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered today on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people, whom we acknowledge as custodians of the lands and waters of this region since time immemorial.
My colleagues and I are really happy to meet with the committee to discuss the commissioner's audit recommendations in relation to “Report 1—Forests and Climate Change”. This report focuses on the two billion trees program in particular.
Planting trees on a large scale is fundamental to mitigating climate change in Canada. It helps capture carbon, it helps restore wildlife habitat and it helps restore biodiversity. It makes forests and surrounding communities more resilient to risks such as floods and wildfires. Canadians saw that last summer.
Both Natural Resources Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada welcome the findings of the report. The departments have formally agreed with the recommendations and have developed action plans to address them.
First, we agree on the importance of independent review in carbon reporting. Canada reports its annual emissions and removals in its national greenhouse gas inventory report, which is submitted each year under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
ECCC also reports its projected 2030 GHG emissions and policy impacts in the biennial reports, also under the UNFCCC.
Both reports include the emissions and removals that result from the management of Canadian forests. They both undergo an in-depth, science-based technical review by independent experts, in accordance with international guidelines. They are both published online for transparency.
International reporting documents can be quite complex and hard to follow. Canada must ensure that information is clearly communicated to the public, especially for the decision-makers. ECCC needs to demonstrate more clearly how past and future changes in land management practices affect projected emissions, for example.
In 2022, the department started publishing more detailed data on land use, forestry emissions and accounting projections on its open data portal.
ECCC also continued to explore other ways to provide additional open data as a supplement to the national inventory and the biennial report.
That's why engagement is so important for us.
The department is working to identify information gaps in carbon reporting and get the complementary inputs that are needed.
ECCC is engaged with experts and stakeholders through multiple fora, and we will continue to do that. We have also engaged in dialogue with environmental groups that have published reports critical of forest carbon reporting in Canada. The issues these partners raise and the improvements they suggest will be addressed in future versions of the interdepartmental “Improvement Plan for Forest and Harvested Wood Products Greenhouse Gas Estimates”.
Together—NRCan and us—we are considering using more contextual information when reporting on progress towards the 2022 to 2026 federal sustainable development strategy greenhouse gas target.
The commissioner is right. There is no solution to climate change in Canada that does not include forests. Reaching the government's objective of planting two billion trees is important for reaching our target, and better reporting on ECCC science related to forest emissions is part of it. ECCC and NRCan are determined to overcome challenges.
I want to thank all members of the committee and the commissioner for their important work. I look forward to discussing this with you.