Abstract

Transportation infrastructure, particularly road networks, have significantly contributed to the social and economic development of many countries. However, roads also negatively impact biodiversity through habitat fragmentation, degradation, and wildlife-vehicle collisions. The project has two goals: to examine the global extent of biodiversity consideration in transportation agency mission statements and to identify barriers to integrating biodiversity, surveying Canadian and U.S. transport officials. Guided by the ‘polluter pays principle’, we ask: to what extent do agencies consider biodiversity, and what challenges or opportunities exist? We hypothesize that countries who signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) should show an increased openness to biodiversity consideration, 30 years after the agreement’s 1992 signing by 196 nations. Methods include a dimensional cluster analysis of 77 mission statements from Canada and its provinces, the U.S. and its states, and 13 CBD signatory countries. Hierarchical dendrograms and four linkage methods (‘Complete’, ‘Average’, ‘Single’, and ‘Ward.D2) were used to visualize similarities. France was the only country to explicitly mention ‘biodiversity’. Most statements emphasized human focused priorities like safety, economy, and quality of life, often omitting or vaguely referencing the natural environment. Survey findings revealed general openness to biodiversity inclusion but barriers such as public or managerial backlash, political constraints, misuse of funds, and concerns over greenwashing were cited. The mixed-methods approach aims to identify exemplary mission statements that can serve as biodiversity leadership models in the transport sector. It also seeks to provide strategies for overcoming identified barriers to biodiversity integration into agency mission statements worldwide.
Keywords: Biodiversity, Transportation infrastructure, Mission statements, Polluter pays principle, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Dimensional cluster analysis, Barriers to biodiversity integration