NATIONAL FARMERS UNION IN CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION

Since 2002 when NFU members passed a resolution urging Canada to ratify the Kyoto Accord, we have been officially calling for meaningful, fair and effective national and international action to address climate change, and for policies that allow farmers to manage and adapt to climate change impacts. Numerous NFU position statements, policy briefs and presentations have both highlighted the need to address climate change and provided good ideas for solutions that work for farmers and the food system. Our 2015 National Convention, Agriculture in a Changing Climate had workshops, panels, resolutions and debates that highlighted climate change impacts and pointed to ways we can improve our prospects by working together.
In 2018 the Saskatchewan government announced it would challenge the federal government’s authority to create a national greenhouse gas reduction plan using a baseline, revenue-neutral greenhouse gas emission pricing system. If successful, Saskatchewan’s action would make it impossible for Canada to implement an effective national greenhouse gas reduction program, or perhaps any national climate change mitigation policy. Thus, NFU members voted strongly in favour of a 2018 National Convention resolution empowering the NFU Board to apply to the courts as an intervener in support of the federal government’s authority. The application, done in collaboration with several citizens groups, succeeded.