Sustainability Means Markets Must Matter

Biological Carbon Canada’s Response to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: A Sustainable Agricultural Industry: March 29, 2023

Summary

The sustainability of the primary sector of Canada’s agricultural industry is foremost an economic one.

Like other Canadian industries, earnings (profit) pay for environmental and social commitments. The environmental costs (pay to pollute) are a part of doing business for some industries. Primary agriculture requires significant new earnings to invest in environmental and social issues in this paper.
Earnings are now at risk when examining abatement costs for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and other social commitments. There is potential to add to farm earnings from a regulated market in Canada. However, the Canadian voluntary market potential cannot cover the expected abatement costs.
The current documentation of a sustainability plan for primary agriculture is short on policy tools, long on issues that could warrant spending public money on, but short on the structural changes needed to cement transition.