Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada on Wednesday launched a credit system for greenhouse gas offsets, a major part of its plan to cut carbon emissions, starting with a set of rules stipulating how projects can generate tradeable credits by capturing gas from landfills. The government said protocols for four other sectors including agriculture and forest management are […] Read more

Canada launches offset credits to help tackle emissions
Landfill gas protocols now launched; ag-related protocols soon to follow

Food, farming, forestry must be transformed to curb global warming, UN says
Earlier draft of panel report called for reduced intake of meat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Protecting forests, changing diets, and altering farming methods could contribute around a quarter of the greenhouse gas cuts needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations’ climate panel. But the changes are unlikely to happen unless governments act to spur them along, the report from the Intergovernmental […] Read more

Canada lays out $9.1 billion roadmap to meet 2030 climate targets
About $1 billion earmarked for new or expanded ag programs
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Canada released its first real roadmap to meeting 2030 climate targets on Tuesday, laying out detailed plans and $9.1 billion in new spending to cut planet-warming carbon emissions after years failing to meet its goals. The Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) is the first time Canada has had a comprehensive plan, rather than just […] Read more

Capturing carbon — and the credits
Intercropping has potential, but the bigger bucks may be in cutting nitrogen
Reading Time: 5 minutes Intercropping has potential, but the bigger bucks may be in cutting nitrogen The announcement of the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System in early March brings more Canadian farmers closer to being paid for storing carbon, but there is more to be sorted out before this becomes a reality. Progress is expected this year in the […] Read more

China to make protein for livestock from carbon monoxide
Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters – Chinese researchers say they have found a way to produce an animal feed protein from carbon monoxide in what is being hailed as a breakthrough that could help reduce the country’s reliance on huge volumes of imported soybeans. China is by far the world’s top buyer of soybeans, bringing in around […] Read more

White House not ruling out a U.S. carbon tax
Option 'not off the table' despite Manchin comment
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters –– The White House on Tuesday said it has not ruled out a carbon tax as a possible option for fighting climate change, even though U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a critical holdout in the closely divided Senate, said he was not discussing the topic in talks about U.S. spending and infrastructure bills. […] Read more

Clean ag tech adoption fund open for applications
Intake open and ongoing for Agricultural Clean Technology Program
Reading Time: 2 minutes A federal program farmers can use to invest in “cleaner” on-farm equipment — including money specifically for more efficient grain dryers — is now taking applications. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced the $165.7 million Agricultural Clean Technology Program is “now open to applicants.” First launched in 2018 and earmarked for expansion under […] Read more

No credit expected for farmers’ past work in new carbon market
Work on protocols for specific projects to begin this spring, department says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Draft regulations for Canada’s new carbon market show Canadian farmers won’t receive credit for removing any greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the atmosphere prior to 2017. Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Friday announced the offset market, to be known as the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System. A 60-day public consultation period on draft regulations […] Read more

New greening programs planned for ag alongside carbon tax hike
Carbon price to hit $170 per tonne by 2030
Reading Time: 5 minutes A new federal climate plan which further cranks up taxes on carbon emissions also includes pledges of new programs to help sink more carbon into farmland. The government on Friday released the sequel to its 2016 Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change — a “strengthened” climate plan, titled A Healthy Environment and a […] Read more

Fertilizer use fuelling climate-warming nitrous oxide emissions, study says
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Rising use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is driving up global emissions of nitrous oxide, a lesser-known greenhouse gas, complicating efforts to limit climate change, scientists reported in a study on Wednesday. Most of the focus in curbing climate-warming gas emissions has focused on the most abundant, carbon dioxide, and one of the […] Read more