Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
As mentioned, I'm Matt Parry. I'm the director general of the policy development and analysis directorate at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
It is a pleasure to see you all again. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about the agriculture sector's contribution as it relates to the environment.
Over the last 20 years, Canada's agriculture sector has taken important steps to reduce its environmental impacts. Efforts to date have improved production efficiency and carbon sequestration, allowing the sector to increase productivity without significant increases in emissions.
Since 2005, total greenhouse gas emissions from Canada's agriculture sector have been relatively stable. According to Canada's national inventory report, greenhouse gas emissions for this sector were roughly 73 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019, compared with 72 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2005.
However, total emissions are only part of the picture. Over the past two decades, agriculture soils have become an important source of carbon sequestration, removing as much as 11 million tonnes in 2005.
Notwithstanding this progress, further action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to continue to sequester carbon in agricultural lands and soils.
As highlighted in the Speech from the Throne, climate action is a cornerstone of the government's plan to support and create a million jobs across the country, and farmers and ranchers are key partners in the fight against climate change. Supporting their efforts to reduce emissions and build resilience is a key priority of the government.
Canada's agriculture sector holds the potential to play an important role in reducing Canada's net greenhouse gas emissions while achieving environmental, social, and economic co-benefits. To this end, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is working with the provinces and territories, farmers, and other Canadian agriculture and food stakeholders to develop and implement innovative solutions that protect the environment while supporting farmers and growing the economy.
Under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, up to $438 million in FPT cost-shared funding is available to farmers for the adoption of beneficial management practices that protect and build resilience in soil, water, air and biodiversity, enhance resilience, and mitigate the impacts of climate change. This funding also helps to build producer awareness of environmental risks through the use of environmental farm plans.
Agriculture and Agri‑Food Canada also has a long history in conducting research on practices and technologies to reduce agriculture's impact on the environment, and transferring this knowledge to producers. This work involves identifying innovative practices that can protect soils from erosion and increase soil carbon, reduce risks to water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve biodiversity on agricultural lands.
This work has contributed to improvements in the quality, yield, safety, and sustainability of the food produced by Canadian farmers.
A number of new measures have been announced over the last six months in Canada's strengthened climate plan and in budget 2021 to expand collaboration with farmers and ranchers and to accelerate progress in the fight against climate change.
First, the government is investing $165.7 million over seven years in an enhanced agricultural clean technology program to support the industry in developing and adopting transformative clean technologies.
Budget 2021 committed $50 million of this program towards supporting farmers in purchasing more efficient grain dryers, and $10 million towards powering farms with clean energy and moving away from diesel fuel. The balance of the funding under this program will support investments in sustainable technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Second, in March of this year the government announced a $185-million agricultural climate solutions program. This program will support the development of on-farm implementation of farming practices to tackle climate change through increased carbon sequestration and lower emissions. Projects implemented through this program will also contribute to other environmental co-benefits such as protecting fresh water and biodiversity resources. For example, practices such as use the of shelterbelts or cover crops can store carbon in soils and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The program aims to establish a Canada-wide network of regional collaboration hubs made up of producers, scientists and other stakeholders that we call living laboratories.
Third, in addition to the $185 million previously announced for the agricultural climate solutions program, budget 2021 provided an additional $200 million over two years to support on-farm climate action to reduce emissions through improved nitrogen management, increased adoption of cover cropping and normalizing rotational grazing. Work is currently under way to develop and launch this program as soon as possible.
Finally, the government is consulting the sector in relation to the announced target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer application to 30% below 2020 levels by 2030.
The department also continues to collaborate with Environment and Climate Change Canada and other partners on initiatives to enhance environmental sustainability, including, for example, through the creation of a Canada water agency to keep Canada's water safe, clean and well managed.
The department is also developing an agriculture sector species-at-risk action plan as part of the pan-Canadian approach to transforming species-at-risk conservation in Canada that aims to identify and prioritize opportunities for the sector to align with positive outcomes for species at risk and biodiversity conservation.
In closing, I would like to reiterate that the agriculture sector has a critical role in the fight against climate change and the transition to a clean economy. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is working to support farmers in this goal to ensure that the sector's environmental impact continues to shrink while its economic output continues to grow.
Thank you for your time, and my colleagues and I would be pleased to respond to any questions.