Strategic Context

The ministry plans, implements its programs, and assesses its performance within a context of ever-changing external and internal factors. These factors include trends and shifts in the environment, economy, society and even within government itself. In assessing these factors, the ministry is guided by the government's Five Great Goals (see the Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results section). Effective air, water and land management are critical components of the government's goals to demonstrate leadership in sustainable environmental management, champion healthy living and physical fitness, and create and sustain a thriving economy. As part of its planning cycle, the ministry analyzes these factors and employs a variety of strategies to take advantage of emerging opportunities and identify and mitigate potential risks that might endanger the achievement of its goals and objectives.

Pressure on the environment can result because of changes in population, land use, water supply and water demand, the dispersal of human-caused and naturally occurring contaminants and unforeseen events such as insect infestations, forest fires and spills of hazardous substances into our air, land or water. The ministry must anticipate and plan for such events by continually enhancing existing programs, developing new initiatives and seeking new opportunities to forge partnerships.

Air Quality. Air quality is an issue for many communities in British Columbia because it can affect our health, the environment and the economy. Through a partnership with the Ministry of Health, Interior Health, Greater Vancouver Regional District, the federal government and the B.C. Lung Association, British Columbia is the first province in Canada to pilot a new Air Quality Health Index that directly ties air quality to health risk. The index is a numbered scale designed to help people make decisions to protect their health by limiting exposure to air pollution and adjusting activity levels during increased levels of air pollution. The index is calculated based on the relative risks of a combination of common air pollutants including ground level ozone, fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide.

Poor air quality is the result of many factors, both natural and human-caused, such as economic activity, population size and density, energy consumption, topography, meteorology and seasonal variations. The ministry leads the B.C. Air Action Plan and shares the responsibility for air quality regulation and monitoring with federal, provincial and local governments and with community partners.

Climate Change. In British Columbia, climate change is already having far-reaching effects, impacting ecosystems and increasing the risks from volatile weather patterns, forest fires, flooding and pest outbreaks. Also affected are fresh water supply, hydroelectric generation and ocean resources. The government has previously responded to this issue by requiring British Columbia to improve on its cross-Canada ranking for greenhouse gas emissions, but a clear commitment to absolute reduction in greenhouse gases in B.C. is required. The ministry will release a plan with specific reduction targets for the major sources of greenhouse gases in B.C.

Water Quality and Use. British Columbia's water resources support vital uses such as drinking water, recreation, wildlife habitats, fisheries and commerce. Demands for water use due to population growth, agricultural use and industrial development will continue to increase, especially as British Columbia's population is expected to increase by more than 37 per cent by 2031.¹ The B.C. Water Action Plan will help the province protect and restore British Columbia's watersheds and support the sustainable use of water-related community and economic activities.

Mountain Pine Beetle. The outbreak of mountain pine beetle affects many forest values, such as landscape aesthetics and tourism, water quality and wildlife habitat. Future reductions of allowable annual cuts, potentially higher-intensity forest fires and loss of investment will have serious economic and safety implications for surrounding communities. The ministry continues its work on cross government initiatives such as the Provincial Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan, which is aimed at the management of the infestation in parks, in protected areas and on crown lands. The ministry works to minimize the impact on human health from necessary prescribed burning.

Biodiversity. British Columbia is the most biologically diverse area in Canada. Programs within the ministry endeavour to conserve this biodiversity and the viability of our ecosystems, which support all forms of life, filter water and air, moderate climates, and preserve soil and its nutrients. The greatest concentration of human population and land development is in the South Coast, which has experienced the greatest loss of ecosystems. The ministry promotes province-wide guidelines for maintaining environmental values during the development of urban and rural lands and works on multi-partnered initiatives such as the Georgia Basin Action Plan to support and improve biodiversity in the Georgia Basin.

Parks, Ecological Reserves and Protected Areas. As British Columbia's population grows, and the economy continues to be strong, there is increasing pressure on the province's many significant and world-renowned parks, ecological reserves and protected areas. The historic provincial land use decisions for the Central and North Coast will determine how the vast richness of B.C.'s coastal areas will be managed for the future. Vital elements of these plans include the designation of 84 parks and "conservancies," which set aside Crown land for the protection of biological diversity, natural environments and recreation value.

Unforeseen Natural or Biological Events. Events such as flooding, fire, oil spills, and contamination of food and water supplies can severely impact our ecosystems and human health and safety. The ministry continues to focus on minimizing such risks by working with emergency preparedness partners, local communities and First Nations to mitigate environmental damage.

Economic growth in British Columbia has been strong, supported by robust domestic demand, strong business investment and higher consumer spending. A major part of the economy consists of extracting resources from the environment and producing and distributing products and services for people to consume. The impacts to the environment of these processes can be felt locally, regionally and globally and can affect the ability of the province to maintain a strong economy, sustainable growth and a high quality of life for its citizens. Through the research and development of more sustainable production methods and the promotion of less wasteful consumption patterns, environmental impacts can be minimized or averted.

As our province's population grows and our need and demand for resources, goods and services increases, there is an ever greater need for all British Columbians to take action and meet the challenge of protecting and enhancing our natural environment.

Individual Responsibility. British Columbians are at a crossroads. Many of our current lifestyle choices are shaping trends that are not sustainable. However, awareness of environmental issues continues to grow and programs such as household recycling, adopt-a-stream and bike-to-work week have met with considerable success. The ministry continues to provide outreach, promotion and information to assist British Columbians in reducing their ecological footprint and making wise lifestyle choices.

Corporate Responsibility. A growing number of organizations within the business community are looking to the triple bottom line — financial performance, environmental performance and social responsibility — to gauge their overall success. No longer is simply providing jobs and profits enough. The ministry continues to work with companies to focus on generating broader social and environmental dividends through investments in stewardship practices such as pollution prevention, waste management, product reuse and recycling, cleaner technology and resource conservation.

Capacity and risk management are two significant internal factors that can affect how effectively the ministry achieves the government's objectives of leadership in sustainable environmental management.

Capacity. Significant economic growth across all sectors and considerable population growth in regional centres has resulted in ever-increasing demands on ministry services and resources. Ministry activities related to assessments, licences, certificates, permits, outreach, information, compliance and enforcement continue to increase as a result of this growth. The ministry is striving to meet these capacity issues in a number of ways, for example, by shifting to a results-based business model, focusing on medium and high risk activities, streamlining legislation, business practices and processes, and enhancing partnerships with other governments, the private sector and First Nations.

Recruitment and Retention. The ministry is committed to becoming an employer of choice.² A key priority for the organization is to develop and implement competitive strategies to attract a highly skilled workforce and retain the valuable and experienced staff already here. The average age of current ministry staff is 47. Ministry retirement rates are projected at 10 to 20 per cent by 2011 and up to 35 per cent for particular job streams. Some key strategies to address this issue include increasing employee engagement, creating more opportunities for career development, developing ministry succession plans, introducing innovative ways to hire young workers, and creating opportunities for retirees to continue to work for the ministry.

Risk Management. Managing adverse events such as those mentioned above requires significant planning — identifying and taking action to minimize the likelihood of risk and the consequences should an event occur. All core business areas within the ministry address risk in the development, implementation and monitoring of their initiatives, regulations, services and programs. Appendix C presents the ministry's framework of proactive planning approaches in which risk is identified and assessed, and management strategies are developed and implemented.