Madam Speaker, in the wake of extreme weather events and rising global temperatures, it is more important than ever for all of us to safeguard our soil, our air and our water. We must ensure that our agricultural lands are healthy and productive for generations to come. To do that, we need to lower greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector, which continue to make up around 10% of Canada's total emissions. All sectors of our economy have to play their part. I know farmers will do their part, and I know they can.
Fertilizer use has played a major role in the agricultural sector's success in the past decade. However, emissions associated with synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use have also grown significantly. That is why, as outlined in Canada's strengthened climate plan, the government has set a target to reduce GHG emissions from fertilizer application by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030.
Let me clarify something first, as I did last week. The fertilizer target is not intended to reduce fertilizer use by 30%. I believe I have answered yes or no. Our approach is focused on reducing fertilizer emissions, and is not a blanket, mandatory reduction in fertilizer application rates. Our target is ambitious, but achievable. The Western Producer conducted an informal survey about the 30% target. It asked a dozen soil nutrition experts, and almost all of them agreed that our emissions reduction goal was achievable and did not require making do with less fertilizer. This target is necessary if we want our agricultural and food production to be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable now and in the future.
Canadian farmers are not alone in this. We will work closely with the industry to understand the challenges ahead and to determine how we can collectively meet the targets. We are looking at all solutions for reducing fertilizer emissions, while investing significantly in programs to help farmers adopt new sustainable products and management practices.
Recently, we invested $165.7 million to expand the agricultural clean technology program, which supports research, development and the adoption of clean technologies, including precision agriculture techniques that can help improve the efficiency of fertilizer application; $185 million for the living lab program under agricultural climate solutions, which brings together farmers, scientists and others to co-develop new climate-smart practices and technologies; and $200 million for the on-farm climate action fund to support the immediate adoption of practices that sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions directly on farms, including nitrogen management.
Supporting sustainable agriculture is our number one priority. We are confident that the fertilizer target will build on the practices, innovation and expertise that Canada's farmers and scientists are already using and developing to improve nutrient management and reduce emissions while maintaining the quality that Canadian agriculture is known for around the world.
