INCLUSIVE, ACCESSIBLE, ACCOUNTABLE AND STRONG PARLIAMENTS
STATUTORY ENTRENCHMENT OF THE UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: THE NOVA SCOTIAN EXPERIENCE In 2015, United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the Agenda) as a means of achieving well-being and prosperity for people and the planet. Central to the Agenda are a set of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),1 touching on matters such as poverty, health, education, energy, communities, and climate. Achieving these ambitious goals will be challenging and requires decisive action by Member States and their sub-national units. While much of the challenge will come in determining how to meet the SDGs and taking the necessary follow-through actions, an important first step is holding governments to account for progressing towards and ultimately achieving the SDGs. One such method is by having legislative bodies in Member States statutorily entrench goals relating to sustainable development. This approach has been utilised in Nova Scotia for over 15 years, with satisfactory results and widespread acceptance among Parliamentarians from all parties represented in the Assembly. The success of this approach in helping Nova Scotia advance its own specific sustainable development goals suggests a potential for broader use as Member States seek to implement their own goals and targets in furtherance of the Agenda. Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act The story of Nova Scotia’s experience with the entrenchment of statutory sustainable development goal begins in the Spring of 2007 under the Government led by Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Progressive Conservative), when Bill 146, the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act2 (the EGSPA), was enacted by the Legislature of Nova Scotia. The EGSPA enumerated the key principles on which it was based, including recognition of the interconnectedness of the health of the economy, the environment and the people of Nova Scotia and of the need to manage the environment and economy for the benefit of present and future generations. It then set out as Nova Scotia’s long-term objective
the full integration of environmental sustainability and economic prosperity, and to that end to: (a) demonstrate international leadership by having one of the cleanest and most sustainable environments in the world by the year 2020; and (b) provide certainty to all sectors of the economy through the Government's economic development strategy . . . and establish clear environmental goals while improving the Province’s economic performance to a level that is equal to or above the Canadian average by the year 2020. Next came the centrepiece of the legislative scheme - in furtherance of the long-term objectives, the EGSPA set out a series of specific economic and provincial goals to be achieved by varying deadlines not later than the year 2020. These goals included legally protecting a specific percentage of Nova Scotia’s land mass, adoption, and meeting of specified environmental standards, reductions of greenhouse gases and other emissions, and the development of particular strategies, policies, and regulatory tools. The Minister responsible for the EGSPA was mandated with reviewing and reporting on the progress made toward achieving the goals and the adequacy of the goals themselves. The EGSPA was to be the subject of a comprehensive public review by the Nova Scotia Round Table on Environmental Sustainability (the Round Table) every five years. It also included various regulation-making powers and authority to enter into agreements in furtherance of the goals, but much of the work to be accomplished in achieving the goals was left to policy and authority under other existing legislation. Fundamentally, the EGSPA was about enshrining sustainability goals in statute and requiring a frequent and open assessment of the progress being made to ensure ongoing accountability by the Government of Nova Scotia. Green Economy Act In 2012, the Round Table’s review3 of the EGSPA determined that
Hon. Keith Bain, MLA is the Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
He was first elected to the House of Assembly in 2006, then re-elected in 2009, 2017 and 2021 to represent the constituency of Victoria-The Lakes. Before being elected Speaker in 2021, he had served as Deputy Speaker, Chair of the Progressive Conservative Caucus, critic for Community Services and for Labour and Workforce Development and Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. Prior to 2006, he was an elected member of the Victoria District School Board, President of the Victoria County Fire Chief's Association and Vice-Chair of the Cape BretonVictoria District School Board. He has been a business owner for 35 years.
6 | The Parliamentarian | 2022: Issue Two | 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference