Governments commit to common and measurable targets to reduce agricultural emissions, but fall short on paving the way for sector-wide change
This past Friday, federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture announced an agreement in principle on the next Agricultural Policy Framework (APF).
Most of Canada’s agricultural policy is delivered through five year policy frameworks. This next APF (2023-2028) will be called the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, and is co-developed and co-negotiated by Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments.
This is our sector’s most significant policy instrument, which governs agriculture spending across Canada until 2028. Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS) has spent the past several months advancing farmer-led and evidence-based solutions to make action on climate change central to this new framework.
Farmers for Climate Solutions sees many positive outcomes in the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, but the measures announced by the ministers fall short of the broad, systemic change that is necessary to tackle the climate crisis and make Canadian farms more resilient in the long term. Much work remains to be done, and we hope the upcoming bilateral negotiations between the federal government and individual provincial and territorial governments will be an opportunity to increase climate ambition.
Below is a summary of the positive outcomes that Farmers for Climate Solutions is happy to see:
$500 million in new funds for cost-share programs, a 25% increase.
A commitment to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 3 to 5 megatonnes over the lifespan of the framework.
A commitment to increase funding for Indigenous farmers and food providers, women farmers and youth farmers.
$250 million for the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program to fund farming practices that support carbon sequestration, adaptation, and other environmental co-benefits.
A one-year review period of current Business Risk Management (BRM) Programs to better integrate climate risk.
The requirement for large farms to perform an agri-environmental risk assessment or Environmental Farm Plan by 2025 to participate in AgriInvest.
A reiteration of the commitment to reduce emissions from nitrogen fertilizer by 30%.
Farmers for Climate Solutions recognizes that the next agricultural policy framework must address a wide range of priorities and respect the great diversity of the Canadian farm sector. However, the Guelph Statement released by FPT ministers last fall identified climate change mitigation and adaptation as the number one priority for the sector. We are concerned that the agreement reached in Saskatoon last week is not detailed and specific enough to ensure that this priority is addressed. Some of the gaps identified by FCS include:
The emissions reduction target included in the agreement represents about half of the emissions reduction potential that we identified in our research.
There is no guarantee that the increased cost-share funding will go to environment and climate priorities.
There are no substantial changes to business risk management programs to make them more responsive to climate risk.
We believe that farmers can do more to curb emissions from our sector, and we will continue to advocate for programs inside and outside the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership to achieve these goals.
“This new funding will be a great boost to our sector and is long overdue,” says Brent Preston, Director of Farmers for Climate Solutions. “But we are disappointed that there is no specific earmark for climate or environmental spending in the increased cost-share budget. Farmers are on the front lines of climate change. We are ready to act, but we need a strong plan and strong support from all levels of government.”