COP28 in Dubai, IOPD in Argentina

Canola Council at COP28

In December, the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) was in Dubai to represent the canola value chain at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) – the global climate change conference organized by the United Nations. As the host country for COP28, the United Arab Emirates emphasized food systems as one of its priorities and also included trade as part of the agenda for the first time in COP history. With these focal points in mind, CCC collaborated with other value chain participants to advance policy positions and priorities to senior domestic and international policymakers both leading up to and during COP28.

COP28 featured several new initiatives and commitments from industry and governments related to climate change. This included the launch of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action and the release of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s roadmap to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) without breaching the 1.5°C threshold agreed to in the Paris Agreement.

CCC’s advocacy leading up to COP28 and in Dubai focused on the following priorities:

• Inform the definition of sustainable trade and its impact
  on agriculture
• Advance biotech and gene-editing technologies as
  climate solutions
• Address global food security through sustainable supply
• Increase recognition of biofuels as an important part of climate change mitigation in the transportation sector

Countries will convene in Baku, Azerbaijan in November 2024 for COP29 to continue negotiations and advance efforts to achieve emissions reduction goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. The CCC will continue to work with allied partners and government to ensure that canola industry positions are well represented.

Key CCC meetings at COP28 included the World Trade Organization, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, U.S. Department of Agriculture, United Arab Emirates Undersecretary for the Ministry of Climate Change and the Environment, and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture.

The International Oilseed Producer Dialogue (IOPD),

consisting of 15 global members, including Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) and other oilseed farmer associations from around the world, issued the final resolution from its XXV meeting in Rosario, Argentina. Compared to 2022, where global challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine were centre stage, main topics in 2023 were challenges related to food security, biofuel production and climate change.

At the meeting, CCGA chair Roger Chevraux shared issues impacting Canada’s canola farmers. These include the need for predictable market access and clear rules of trade, for science-based decision-making in domestic regulations, and for environmental programming that builds on farmers’ sustainability practices and recognizes their contributions to global climate change goals.

“It never ceases to amaze me the number of issues that Canadian farmers have in common with oilseed farmers from around the globe,” says Chevraux. “With the strength of a unified voice by IOPD members from nine countries, we can reach both domestic and international governments on priority issues, including the importance that innovation plays in global food and energy security, the need for trade liberalization to enhance food security, the role that crop inputs play in food availability and accessibility, and the need to address climate and production challenges with reasonable locally-adapted solutions that are based on science.”