Sustainability at Syngenta Canada

The agriculture industry faces a significant task – produce 50% more food by 2050 to feed a growing population while managing the impacts of climate change, 33% less farmland, and evolving regulatory requirements and consumer preferences.

Sustainable agriculture is an important solution to these challenges and a key priority for Syngenta as we work to advance Canadian agriculture to help feed the world.

How does Syngenta define sustainable agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture is the ability to farm generation after generation while protecting the environment, remaining economically viable, and meeting society's current and future needs.

Planet

Protecting the environment

Profit

Ensuring farmer success

People

Meeting society's needs

Leadership in sustainable agriculture

Farmers and the agriculture sector have made significant advancements. In fact, Canadian agriculture is a global leader in sustainability, with one of the lowest environmental footprints in the world¹.

Here are just a few examples of Canadian agriculture’s leadership in this space:

Syngenta is dedicated to advancing sustainability

Leveraging the power of innovation and collaboration is essential to securing a sustainable future for Canadian farming. Sustainability is embedded into our business strategy to drive advancements that will benefit our customers, employees, the value chain, and society. Here are just some examples of how we’re making a difference:

Products and stewardship

• Biological technologies promote resilient root growth and improve nutrient use efficiency in plants
• Enogen™ corn hybrids improve cattle feed efficiency up to 5%¹⁰, leading to reduced GHGs and lower use of land, energy and water
• Stewardship efforts ensure responsible management of our products and their use (e.g., personal protective equipment resource collaboration with the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association)

Partnerships and collaborations

• Partnership with the Potato Sustainability Alliance (PSA) to gather on-farm sustainability insights using the Syngenta Sustainable Outcomes in Agriculture standard and the Cropwise™ Sustainability mobile app
• Operation Pollinator partnerships, like “The Bee Project” by Cavendish Farms, promote biodiversity and support the health and well-being of bees and other pollinators from coast to coast

Sponsorships

• Tackling food insecurity with our Zero Hunger Challenge in support of Food Banks Canada
• Supporting the development of future leaders in sustainable agriculture with 4-H Canada
• Inspiring youth to explore careers in agri-food to bolster the future workforce with Agriculture in the Classroom Canada

Facilities and operations

• Environmentally conscious office features and practices (e.g., motion-sensor lights, recycled building materials, remote work policy)
• Working towards a global target of 38 per cent emissions reduction in our operations by 2030 (vs. 2022)

Safe and inclusive workplace

• Office features such as wheelchair accessibility, a gender-neutral bathroom, and workspaces that support different working styles and neurodiverse employees
• Zero incidents target in our operations (e.g., two-day comprehensive safety training with student interns, encompassing both hands-on and in-class learning)

Driving sustainable agriculture

We aim to be the partner of choice in helping industry, farmers, and the value chain document and demonstrate positive sustainability outcomes across three core areas.

Soil health

Definition: The continuous, science-based pursuit of practices and products that maximize the potential of soils for improved farmer outcomes and environmental benefits.

Why it matters: Healthy soil is the basis for a successful crop, enabling maximum food production. A focus on healthy soil will also enable global food security, farmer prosperity, and climate change mitigation.

Optimal crop production

Definition: The optimization of crop production to support farmers’ financial viability while managing environmental impacts.

Why it matters: With a growing global population, agriculture needs to produce 50% more food by 2050 on the same land while safeguarding our natural resources.

Biodiversity

Definition: Protecting and restoring habitat in agricultural landscapes to enhance diversity of cropping systems and conservation of non-crop areas to help support non-target species (e.g., pollinators, beneficials, wildlife).

Why it matters: Biodiversity sustains the ecosystems that underpin fertile soils and plant pollination, helping farmers grow healthy food. Conserving biodiversity enriches the environment by preserving genetic diversity, improving carbon sequestration in soil, and allowing people to enjoy nature.

Contact us

If you’re looking for more information about sustainable agriculture or would like to partner with Syngenta on an initiative, please contact Christina Stroud at christina.stroud@syngenta.com.

¹ Benchmarking Canada’s Agri-Food Sustainability Leadership (2021)
^2,3,5,8 Helping Canada Grow | Home
^4,6 https://soycanada.ca/sustainability/overview/
⁷ https://www.canolacouncil.org/sustainability/environmental/
⁹ Cleanfarms Annual Report (2023)
¹⁰ University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Kansas State University 2013-2018

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