Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management (RBC) signage is pictured in Ottawa on Wednesday Sept. 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
A new report by RBC says Canada’s agriculture sector needs to increase food production while also investing in sustainability to reduce emissions.
The report in collaboration with the BCG Centre for Canada’s Future and the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute says Canada needs to increase its food production by a quarter by 2050 just to maintain its contribution to feeding the world’s growing population.
However, it says the sector also needs to cut emissions; the sector currently produces 93 megatonnes in greenhouse gas emissions a year, more than 10 per cent of Canada’s output.
If Canadian farmers maintain current practices and output levels, these emissions could rise to 137 megatonnes by 2050, the researchers say.
The report says that through technology, finance, and policy, Canada’s agriculture sector could cut up to 40 per cent of those potential 2050 emissions.
Some key solutions identified in the report include regenerative agriculture techniques like carbon capture, controlled environment agriculture like greenhouses and vertical farms, and technology deployed in everything from crop genetics to soil testing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2022.
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