Promoting Biodiversity in Canadian Agriculture Post-UN Conference

Biodiversity has been a hot topic in government and environmental group circles since the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) held in Montreal at the end of 2022. The conference was not shy on the liberal use of ‘crisis’ and not short on setting targets (23).

As the Canadian government pushes to show progress against these 23 targets, the agricultural industry can be an easy target if we invest the time to inform policymakers about the progress we have made and the challenging trade-offs we often need to reconcile.

There are several keyways in which Canadian agriculture continues to promote biodiversity. First, Canada's agricultural sector has been a leader in developing new crops to diversify our crop rotations. Secondly, Canadian agriculture continues to produce more on the same land, thereby reducing global pressure to bring new land under cultivation. And thirdly, by adopting increasingly precise tools to protect our crops, we reduce off-target impact.

While few would consider the job done, the crisis narrative feels misplaced and risks impeding the collaboration that will be needed to drive further progress.