Ontario Federation of Agriculture News www.ofa.on.ca
A new report outlines agriculture’s role in providing carbon credits as part of a Cap and Trade System for Ontario. The report, Enabling Offsets at Scale in Ontario’s Agricultural Sector, was recently released as the first phase of a joint project between the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and Viresco Solutions Inc.
In September 2015, OFA contracted Viresco to investigate the key design elements and regulatory framework for the new Cap and Trade System that would enable Ontario’s agricultural sector to make a meaningful contribution towards addressing climate change by participating in a market-based offset system.
The Phase 1 report provides detailed information on:
- · Essential offset criteria within a Cap and Trade System
- · Establishing offset quantification protocols
- · Roles and responsibilities of market shareholders
- · Ways to minimize uncertainty and ensure market integrity
- · Recognizing early actions by farmers to reduce emissions
“A Cap and Trade System that includes carbon offset credits, generated from the agricultural sector, will give regulated facilities the flexibility they need to comply with the regulations,” says OFA President Don McCabe. “This report will help policy makers understand agriculture’s role in providing regulated facilities with the flexibility they need to meet compliance obligations while encouraging farmers to pursue further emission reductions and on-farm efficiencies.”
The Ontario Government has set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 15% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050, including a new Cap and Trade System. OFA will be taking recommendations from this recent report to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change for consideration as they develop the Ontario Cap and Trade System. Cap and trade is a carbon pricing mechanism that works across chosen, covered sectors. Agriculture is expected to remain an uncovered sector. From the farm gate, the industry can offer aggregated, offsets to capped industries unable to reduce carbon emissions.
A copy of the full report, Enabling Offsets at Scale in Ontario’s Agricultural Sector, is available at www.ofa.on.ca.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 37,000 farm families across the province. As a dynamic farmer-led organization based in Guelph, the OFA works to represent and champion the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, research, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more. OFA is the leading advocate for Ontario’s farmers and is Ontario’s voice of the farmer.
Source: OFA