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Emissions Reduction Plan

Demand action on climate-emitting agriculture

The Ministry for the Environment is seeking feedback on its emissions reduction plan, which will set the direction for climate action for the next 15 years. The hope is the plan will chart a course for Aotearoa to meet its 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions targets.

But the current plan won’t meaningfully reduce emissions from animal agriculture.

Emissions from agriculture make up 48 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions, three quarters of which is biogenic methane, mostly from the dairy sector, sheep and beef cattle.

While methane is a short lived greenhouse gas, it is potent, with a warming potential more than 28 times that of carbon dioxide.

The Zero Carbon Act 2019 set targets to reduce emissions from biogenic methane to 24-46 per cent below 2017 levels by 2050, including 10 per cent below 2017 levels by 2030. Net emissions from all other greenhouse gases must be zero by 2050.

Despite the huge allowance that the climate-polluting dairy and meat industries have been handed, current projections suggest that under the proposed plan methane will only be reduced by 6.5% by 2030.

The Government recently announced that they would cut net emissions to 50% below gross 2005 levels by 2030. To reach this target, the Government plans to help reduce other countries’ emissions and count those reductions towards our target, rather than take meaningful action in Aotearoa.

If climate change is this generation’s nuclear-free moment, then we must tackle emissions from agriculture.

We know that animal agriculture has a detrimental impact on animals. It’s also destroying our natural environment and waterways. The Government is proposing to limit methane emissions from animals by relying on unproven technology. We need proven actions that will make an impact now. We need to urgently transition away from animal agriculture.

Demand a transition away from animal agriculture in the Emissions Reduction Plan.

Click the button below to make a submission to the Ministry for the Environment on the Emissions Reduction Plan.

  • Emissions from agriculture make up 48% of our gross greenhouse gas emissions. While biogenic methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas, it has a warming potential of more than 28 times that of carbon dioxide.
  • It is irresponsible to not fully address emissions from agriculture. The current proposals rely on unproven technologies like methane inhibitors and vaccines. We need to act now, using proven measures, to reduce emissions.
  • The Government needs to support farmers to transition away from animal agriculture if we want to avoid the worst effects of the climate emergency.
  • Stock numbers need to drastically reduce and farming in Aotearoa New Zealand needs to transition from intensive animal agriculture to the production of a range of plant-based proteins and other products.
  • The Government needs to drive and market the consumption of a plant-based diet by our team of 5 million. We also need to invest in looking at a thriving economy based on export of plant-based proteins and other products, not emissions-laden meat, fish and dairy.
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