Canada is home to 9% of the world’s forests, and 28% of the world’s boreal zone. Canada’s northern boreal forests have the largest storehouse of terrestrial carbon in the world, holding nearly twice as much carbon per square kilometre as tropical forests. About 11 million Canadians and 70% of Canadian Indigenous communities are located on or near forested lands.
Canada Overview
Why Canada?
At the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 in 2022, the Government of Canada made an initial pledge of approximately 19 million hectares through federal programs by three departments that support on-the-ground landscape and ecosystem restoration activities, including the 2 Billion Trees Program. The 2 Billion Trees program will support provinces, territories, non-profit organizations, businesses, and Indigenous governments and organizations in planting two billion trees over 10 years. Canada also helped lead the world to the agreement on the monumental Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework which sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050.
Our Focus
The 1t.org Canada Chapter is committed to support the conservation and restoration goals of the Canadian Government’s 2 Billion Trees Programme. As an action-oriented and multi-stakeholder platform, 1t.org aims to facilitate critical partnerships, elevate ecopreneurship and innovation, and mobilize private sector ambition for forest action. The platform will leverage Canada’s significant research expertise, technology development and science-based approach to inform policies and practices that can promote effective large-scale restoration programs across the region.
Our Leadership Council
The World Economic Forum and the 1t.org Canada Leadership Council, chaired by tentree & veritree, are leading the initiative in Canada and providing leadership and support to the pledging companies, stakeholders and communities in meeting their forest conservation and restoration pledge targets. Council members come from diverse backgrounds in the private sector, forestry, conservation, policymaking, and Indigenous communities. Our Leadership Council currently consists of:
• Derrick Emsley, Co-founder & CEO, tentree & veritree; Chair of 1t.org Canada Leadership Council
• Angelique Ahlström, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Flash Forest
• Kathy Abusow, President and CEO, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
• Stewart Elgie, Professor, University of Ottawa; Chair, Smart Prosperity Institute
• Nicole Hurtubise, CEO, Tree Canada
• Dr. John Innes, FRBC Chair of Forest Management, Faculty of Forestry University of British Columbia
• Jessica Kaknevicius, CEO, Forests Ontario/Forest Recovery Canada
• Derek Nighbor, President and CEO, The Forests Products Association of Canada
• Steven Nitah, Managing Director, Nature for Justice; Member of Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation
• Pamela Perreault, Director, The Firelight Group, Member of Garden River First Nation
• Geoff Pegg, Head of Sustainability & Environment, TELUS
• Madison Savilow, Chief of Staff, Carbon Upcycling; Founder, Oco
• Sharon Seilman, Director, Climate Strategy at Manulife
• Janet Sumner, Executive Director, Wildlands League
• Carleigh Whitman, Director of Environment, Teck Resources Limited
How to engage
Read our Press Release on the first Canadian companies pledging to 1t.org.
To learn more about our work in Canada: