Greenpeace Aotearoa says that to be credible, the Government’s upcoming Emissions Reduction Plan must cut climate pollution from intensive dairy – New Zealand’s biggest climate polluter.
In a speech today, Climate Change Minister, James Shaw, announced that on May 16, the Government will release its first-ever – and much delayed – Emissions Reduction Plan.However, lead agriculture campaigner Christine Rose says “the Minister’s speech diverted attention from the Government’s failure to cut emissions from intensive dairying.
“Intensive dairying is the number one cause of climate pollution in Aotearoa. To be a credible tool for fighting climate change, the Emissions Reduction Plan must dramatically reduce dairy pollution by halving the herd and phasing out the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and supplementary feed (such as PKE) that drives it.”Greenpeace’s 32,000-strong petition calls for the Emissions Reduction Plan to include a $1 billion regenerative agriculture fund, to deliver a Just Transition for farmers, and support a shift to more plant-based, regenerative organic farming.
“The Emissions Reduction Plan must turn around the farming sector, from being Aotearoa’s biggest polluter, into a solution for tackling climate change and restoring nature, through more plant-based regenerative organic agriculture,” says Rose.”To date, the Government’s response to the existential climate crisis has been desperately inadequate. Despite declaring a climate emergency and pledging to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, industrial dairy has been given a free pass. Both the Emissions Trading Scheme – where the taxpayer pays for the dairy sector’s emissions – and the agri-industry alternative, He Waka Eke Noa – is expected to reduce emissions by less than 1%.