Greenpeace disbelief at Govt’s failure to include agriculture in ETS “improvements”
Wednesday, December 12: The Government has just announced “improvements” to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Greenpeace has responded with disbelief at the Government’s failure to include agriculture – the country’s biggest climate polluter – in the “improvements”.
“As long as the country biggest polluter is still excluded from the ETS, there is no amount of tinkering with the policy that will make it effective,”says climate campaigner Gen Toop.
Agriculture emits 49% of NZ’s emission and have have risen 12% since 1990.
Toop says, “an emissions trading scheme without agriculture is a waste of time and will not be able to combat climate breakdown – the greatest threat human civilisation has ever faced.”
In its discussion document on the ETS changes, the Government says it is waiting for the Climate Commission to determine whether and how agriculture enters into the scheme.
But Greenpeace says there is no time to waste.
“New Zealand must urgently and substantially reduce emissions from the agriculture sector. Putting agriculture into the ETS is a no-brainer. We don’t have time to wait for the Climate Commission to get on with it,” says Toop.
The latest report by the world authority on climate change, the IPCC, says we must halve global emissions in the next 12 years in order to avoid heating the planet by more than 1.5 degrees.
The IPCC report predicts the impact on health, livelihoods, security, water supply, food security, and economic growth will worsen if these deep cuts in emissions are not made. It also predicts that poor and marginalised communities will suffer the most, despite being the least responsible for the issue.
“The world faces widespread starvation, human displacement and suffering, and mass extinction of wildlife because of climate breakdown,” says Toop.
“This global disaster is a direct result of governments around the world caving in to the corporates and their lobbyists who are hell-bent on maintaining profits while the world burns.”
“It’s deeply unjust that taxpayers are still subsidising agricultural climate pollution, to the tune of $800 million a year,” she says. “That’s money New Zealand needs to reduce emissions and to prepare our communities for the climate impacts already locked in by past emissions, such as extreme flooding and sea-level rise.”
Greenpeace is unequivocal about what exactly needs to be done.
“If we’ve got any chance at keeping this planet liveable for humanity, then the Government has to take serious action against industrial livestock farming, starting now.”
“Agriculture must be fully brought into the ETS, synthetic nitrogen fertiliser must be banned, cow numbers must be reduced, and there must be a massive Government-led investment in regenerative farming. Anything less consigns future generations to hell on earth,” says Toop.
Greenpeace is right in pushing hard to have emissions addressed.
The Govt has a duty to lower the balance of GHG emissions to zero as soon as possible.
But to send a message to the agricultural sector that just strengthens NACT’s chances to get back in and continue business as usual will not be in NZ’s best interest.
Kiwis are a passive lot who allow all sorts of shit to happen as the “elite” stuff their pockets with no regards to our futures. So our timid action of voting a Govt in by a slim margin, who talk of necessary change is about all we seem capable of doing.
Our public support for addressing climate is pathetically weak when it comes to votes. Similarly in addressing inequity.
Transnational corporations have made tens of billions from their banking and other agricultural sector activities.
Most farmers are not in a good position to be adaptable and change the focus of their output as banks have them well harnessed and drive the direction of farmers activity. An increasing number of our farms are owned or run by corporations, many based off shore.
If the public were more active in forcing change then the tax cuts instituted by NACT would be clawed back and the money used to support change a necessary change of direction in the agricultural and allied sectors.
A state bank issuing loans to farmers for purposes of change would be a start. We have to get rid of fertiliser and drastically reduce livestock numbers.
Horticulture without ecocides needs to be developed across NZ without irrigation schemes. Small scale ventures are a lot more flexible and are more likely to be run by individuals, families or community cooperatives.
A govt agency to research and pilot schemes is sorely needed. Since the deliberate axing of out DSIR, we no longer have a body of multi disciplinary of scientists working as a team with some independence of political direction. So leadership in R & D is virtually absent.
Dealing with ETS in isolation will put NACT back in.
Public education needs to be ramped up, as does the vision of a clear path of action to mitigate the damage done by Transnational Corporations over many decades.
Our economy based on emissions is a death warrant.
I’m gob-smacked Greenpeace at the government letting the fonterra off the hook as Fonterra is using road freight in most regions and little rail to ship their milk to a very limited number of treatment and production plants.
They are trucking milk all through from Bay of plenty through Gisborne and HB to Palmerston North over 390 kms, and that is a very dirty dairying transport policy for sure here.
Do the right thing Fonterra picket Government to get rail services back on track and move your milk by rail.
When the ETS was first developed the farmers were let off the hook so they could develop technologies to reduce their emissions, and they were given a period of time before they were meant to be included but that all went quiet so yes Greenpeace is right to be angry about this, the govt is letting the dairy industry off the hook again.
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