A framework for promoting natural climate solutions in the agriculture sector

Natural climate solutions adopted by agricultural producers, such as cover crops, avoided grassland conversion, and improved nutrient management, can contribute to climate change mitigation while producing social and environmental co-benefits. Scaling natural climate solutions in agriculture is increasingly being explored as a critical component for achieving net-zero targets. There is growing recognition, however, that the hoped-for benefits of natural climate solutions will not be realized without a governance ecosystem that enables adoption. While many governance mechanisms have emerged to promote natural climate solutions in agriculture such as ecosystem service markets, climate innovation and clean tech funds, and producer education and outreach programs, little attention has been paid to how these governance mechanisms effectively contribute to an enabling governance ecosystem and where they fit within. In response, this paper compiles and synthesizes recommendations from relevant research fields including natural climate solutions, agri-environmental stewardship, and environmental governance to formulate a framework for natural climate solutions in agriculture. The framework manifests as a list of ten normative criteria organized by macro, sector, and geographical scales, which, if realized, can be expected to scale natural climate solutions adoption in agriculture. To demonstrate the utility of the framework, it is used to evaluate efforts to promote natural climate solutions in Canada’s agriculture sector. This evaluation reveals an approach that is progressing towards meeting the criteria of the framework. However, in its current state, the governance ecosystem that influences natural climate solutions adoption in Canada’s agriculture sector is project specific, with a patchwork of governance mechanisms largely operating parallel to one another, such that only some regional successes are possible. The framework is a starting point for identifying what might define an enabling governance ecosystem for natural climate solutions adoption in agriculture based on literature, highlighting the opportunity for future empirical research to build upon this framework towards a more complete view.