| Abstract | Across the international community, impact assessment, as a key review and approval process for large-scale development and resource extraction projects, is frequently identified as a mechanism for addressing biodiversity decline. This has been reiterated by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, including the recently ratified Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, in which Target 14 calls for the full integration of biodiversity into policies, regulations, and strategies, with specific reference to impact assessment and associated processes (i.e. strategic environmental assessment and regional assessment). Despite this recognition, the consideration of biodiversity within impact assessment processes has remained inconsistent and ambiguous, relying on implicit approaches and lacking clearly articulated practical guidance. In Canada, this uncertainty has contributed to insufficient rates of progress towards fulfilling national biodiversity targets, and indicates lagging performance in the mainstreaming of biodiversity into government policies and decision-making processes. |
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