Why is there dialogue?
Farmers are on the front lines of climate change, facing increased risk of wildfires and extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts. They are also a key part of the solution, able to sequester carbon, ensure healthy soils, and help protect our natural environments.
Under the Farm to Fork strategy and relative initiatives, the European Union aims at ensuring that agriculture contributes to combatting climate change and is sustainable for future generations. Those challenges transcend European borders and have to be addressed on an international level.
On 15 June 2021, at the EU-Canada Summit, EU and Canada leaders remarked that “under CETA, Canada and the EU cooperate to address climate change and other global environmental challenges”.
They officially launched “a series of joint events to promote sustainability, environmental stewardship and climate action in agriculture”, within the framework of the Agriculture Dialogue under the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Through these joint events, the EU and Canada will exchange ideas and best practices on a number of topics, such as soil health, greenhouse gas reduction in livestock, organic farming, better use of fertilisers and sustainable crop protection.
Workshops dedicated to each topic will centre around the policy context (outlining problems, challenges, ambitions, actions) and showcase current best practices as well as research and innovation efforts on both sides aimed at finding solutions to address these topics.
Policymakers, farmers, researchers and representatives of EU Member States and Canadian provinces and territories will take part in events extending over two years, with a final report from each workshop feeding into a wrap-up event for the project.
The results of each workshop will be available, below:
Workshops
On 5th December 2023 around 90 participants from the EU and Canada came together in Brussels for a Conference, to take stock of what was achieved during the series of five workshops held between 2021 and 2023. Participants included researchers, academics, farmers, industry stakeholders, government officials, and not-for-profit representatives. The Conference noted that the workshops had contributed to establishing a better understanding of the policy context, ambitions and avenues the EU and Canada are taking on pressing sustainability challenges in agriculture and agri-food value chains. Participants called for continued collaboration between both sides in the future.
On 25 April 2023, 95 agricultural industry stakeholders from the EU and Canada came together in the Sustainable Crop Protection Workshop. Participants explored how farmers can get the most out of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan and mitigate the risks of sustainable pesticide use while balancing the costs in a changing climate.
View animation:
Related initiatives in the EU:
On 25 January 2023, over 170 agricultural industry stakeholders from the EU and Canada came together and explored farming practices to optimise the use of fertilisers and to reduce air emissions and water pollution, as well as ways to increase the availability of fertilisers through innovation and alternative sources.
- Recording of the plenary sessions:
- Short background video: Download video as zip (18.8Mb)
- Outcomes report
Related initiatives in the EU:
On 8 June 2022, over 110 organic production stakeholders from the EU and Canada came together at this Organic Production Workshop. Participants explored the environmental and socio-economic benefits and drivers of organic production as well as innovation in the value chain.
- Recording of the plenary sessions:
- Plenary video: Download video as zip (653.4Mb)
- Shorter video: Download video as zip (7.6Mb)
- Report / outcomes paper
Related initiatives in the EU:
On 10 March 2022, over 110 stakeholders and experts from across the EU and Canada came together in a joint workshop to explore the policy context and discuss good practices, research and innovation concerning the reduction of emissions of GHS in livestock production.
- Recording of the plenary sessions:
- Short video: Download video as zip (12.4Mb)
- Report / outcomes paper (EN/FR)
Related initiatives in the EU:
On 26 October 2021, a workshop brought together over 120 stakeholders from across Canada and the EU to explore the policy context and discuss good practices, research and innovation in the field of soil health.
- Learn about soil biodiversity and soil carbon.
- Recording of the plenary sessions:
- Plenary: Download video as zip (1.4Gb)
- Shorter videos: Download video as zip (20.2Mb)
- Report / outcomes paper (EN/FR)
Related initiatives in the EU: