Nova Scotia Making Progress on Environmental Priorities

Sustainable water and air quality management and reduced packaging are keys to a healthier, better-managed environment and stronger, more prosperous communities.

These important provincial environmental priorities were also the focus of a national discussion during this week's meeting of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment in Yellowknife.

"I'm so pleased with Nova Scotia's progress in all the priority areas we discussed this week at the national level," said Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau. "There are benefits to environment ministers working together on key issues and the council is an effective forum to do this."

At the Yellowknife meeting, council members reiterated their commitment to the group's Water Action Plan, approved in 2010. They also agreed to continue sharing information and approaches on water management, protection, monitoring and remediation.

Nova Scotia supports the council's approach to sustainable water management, which complements Water For Life, Nova Scotia's recently released water management strategy. It recognizes the value of Nova Scotia's water resources and the importance of taking action to protect those resources for the future.

The ministers were also pleased with progress on the Air Quality Management System. They noted the significant human and environmental health impacts of air quality as drivers for their strong support to develop and implement the system.

It will build on provincial air quality measures and include more ambitious Canadian air quality standards, consistent requirements for industrial emissions and improved management of mobile source emissions. The council aims to endorse the system next year and start implementing it in 2013.

Nova Scotia has significant air emission reduction targets and is pleased with management system progress.

The ministers also announced that the council will develop a Canada-wide approach to optimize packaging reduction. It will establish an industry-government working group to help develop the approach, which will include targets, timelines and reporting mechanisms for packaging reduction. It will be reviewed by council members next spring.

Nova Scotia is looking forward to working with the industry-government working group, which supports what the province is already doing to meet the objectives.