The State of the World's Forests 2022

This executive summary, prepared by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), examines Canada's comprehensive wealth from 1980 to 2013. It argues that GDP is an insufficient measure of long-term development and proposes a 'comprehensive wealth' framework that includes natural, human, social, produced, and financial capital to better assess the sustainability of national well-being.

• Canada's comprehensive wealth per person grew by only 7 per cent in real terms between 1980 and 2013, representing a low annualized growth rate of 0.19 per cent. This growth was significantly slower than the 54 per cent increase in average individual consumption over the same period.
• Market natural capital per person declined by 25 per cent from 1980 to 2013 due to physical depletion and market changes affecting timber, agricultural land, minerals, and fossil fuels. Non-monetary indicators also show declines in forest area, wetland area, and glacier mass, alongside increases in temperature and precipitation consistent with climate change.
• Human capital, which constitutes 80 per cent of Canada's comprehensive wealth, showed zero growth between 1980 and 2013. This indicates that the average worker's lifetime earning potential remained stagnant despite an increase in the number of Canadians graduating with diplomas.
• Produced capital grew by 73 per cent per person (1.68 per cent annually) between 1980 and 2013, but this growth was highly concentrated, with approximately 70 per cent resulting from the oil and gas extraction industry and housing.
• Social capital remained stable but did not grow during the studied periods. While diversity in social networks showed a consistent upward trend, indicators for trust and cooperative norms were inconsistent across regions and time.
• According to United Nations data, Canada ranks first among G7 nations for the level of comprehensive wealth per capita, largely due to its natural capital reserves. However, it ranks last among G7 members for the growth rate of that wealth.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2022). The State of the World's Forests 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-en.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. The State of the World's Forests 2022. 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=The State of the World's Forests 2022 |date=2022 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2022state, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{The State of the World's Forests 2022}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }