Canada–EU CETA Agriculture Dialogue Sustainability Workshops

Farmers are on the front lines of climate change, facing increased risk of extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts. Farms are also a key part of the solution, able to sequester carbon, ensure healthy soils, and protect our natural environments. But ensuring that agriculture contributes to combatting climate change and is sustainable for future generations is a global challenge.

On June 15, 2021, Canadian and European Union (EU) leaders at the Canada-EU Leaders' Summit 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).

Canada and the EU will exchange ideas and best practices on a number of topics during these events, including soil health, greenhouse gas emissions reductions in livestock, organic farming, better use of fertilizers and sustainable crop protection. Workshops dedicated to each topic will explain the policy context (outlining problems, challenges, ambitions, actions) and showcase current best practices as well as research and innovation efforts aimed at addressing these topics. Policymakers, farmers, researchers and representatives of EU Member States and Canadian provinces and territories will take part in a series of events extending over two years, with a final report from each workshop feeding into a wrap-up event for the project.

Stakeholders’ Conference in Brussels, December 5, 2023

Stakeholders’ Conference: Potential Paths Forward report

Workshop 5: Sustainable Crop Protection: Pesticide Use in Agriculture, April 25, 2023

Workshop 4: Sustainable Use of Fertilizers, January 25, 2023

Workshop 3: Organic farming, June 8, 2022

Workshop 2: Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction in Livestock Production, March 10, 2022

Workshop 1: Soil Health, October 26, 2021