Grant: Alliance Grants

The Canadian Net Zero Emissions Accountability Act, adopted in June 2021, commits Canada to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions economy-wide by 2050. Agriculture - in particular, livestock production - is a non-trivial source of domestic GHGs, contributing ~ 10% of total direct national emissions, and a much higher proportion of "life cycle" emissions (i.e. taking into account supply chain activities). Climate-smart agriculture is hence a core component of Canada's vision for a net zero emissions future. The supply-managed Canadian egg industry comprises 1,205 registered farms distributed across all 10 provinces and one territory. As egg production and consumption continues to grow, concerted efforts are required to support reducing the carbon footprint of egg production. The overarching objective of the current Alliance Grant proposal is to enable achievement of net zero emissions for the Canadian egg industry through collaborative research with Egg Farmers of Canada - the organization at the helm of the supply-managed Canadian egg industry. This requires an innovative approach aimed at: identification, evaluation and prioritization among potential net zero emissions strategies on a multi-sustainability criteria basis; effective knowledge translation and transfer to Canadian egg farmers; and co-development of an industry roadmap for implementation of a feasible pathway towards a national net zero emissions egg industry. The research will position Canadian egg farmers as global leaders in the climate friendly foods marketplace, which is an increasingly competitive arena, whilst providing a template and much of the necessary data for greenhouse gas emissions measurement and mitigation that can be replicated across the poultry and other Canadian livestock sectors. Our project will make an important contribution to reducing agricultural GHG emissions in Canada while supporting an economically viable, modernized livestock sector that maintains social license through proactive, credible, and effective GHG emission reduction measures.