A Canadian author of a mammoth UN report on the environment says its findings on the decline of nature has an important message for Canada.
Kai Chan of the University of British Columbia says the report shows Canada has to start thinking long term about the development of its resources and how that impacts everything from killer whales and caribou to clean water and flood control.
He says the report is the product of three years of work by hundreds of scientists from 50 countries.
It finds nature is declining more quickly than at any time in previous human history and more than a million species are threatened with extinction.
Chan says the report has a strong lesson for Canada's current fights about carbon taxes and environmental assessments.
He says despite the belief that Canada has strong environmental protections, the country's conservation performance is mediocre.