Pricing must cut agriculture emissions

Cutting climate pollution must be the number one priority for Cabinet when considering how it intends to price agricultural emissions, the Green Party says.

“Agreeing an emissions pricing system that meets New Zealand’s climate goals will help rural communities flourish, position New Zealand as a world-leader in climate friendly farming, and help ensure a safer planet for future generations,” Green Party agriculture spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said.

Earlier today the Government released the advice it received from the Climate Change Commission about how ready farmers and the broader agriculture sector are for emissions pricing. The advice identifies the areas where progress has been made, while also pointing to areas where more work needs to be done.

“We can have a thriving and sustainable farming sector that is good for farmers, good for communities, and good for the planet. The Emissions Reduction Plan the Government published in May identified emissions pricing as one of the key tools for achieving that vision. To achieve that, emissions pricing needs the right settings.

“Over the next eight years we have to reduce our biogenic methane emissions by at least ten percent compared to what they were in 2017. The fact is, most of those emission reductions will have to come from changing the way we farm. While many farmers and growers are already doing the right thing for the climate, time is running out.

“The decision Cabinet has to take before the end of the year about how it intends to implement an emissions pricing system will shape the future of farming for many years to come. If Cabinet gets it right, we will have a huge opportunity ahead of us to transform Aotearoa New Zealand’s farming sector from being one of the biggest impacts on our climate into one of its biggest solutions.

“The Green Party will be looking to Cabinet to agree on an emissions pricing system that will not only meet the climate change targets the Government has put into law but also support farmers to switch to low emissions and regenerative farming practices,” Teanau Tuiono said.

Action

Protect Nature

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing Aotearoa. Volu...

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Climate Change Announcements

Story

Government throws coal on the climate crisis fire

The Government’s policy announced today to ease consenting for coal mining will have a lasting impact across generations.

Missed opportunity but NZ will surely one day recognise the right to a sustainable environment

New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member...

CCC issues warning over further climate delay

Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in lig...

Reversing oil and gas ban brazen and utterly reckless

The Government’s new timeframe for expanding oil and gas exploration starts the clock on the time remaining to save the oil and gas ban.

Govt slams on the brakes of climate action

The scrapping of the Clean Car Discount is an act of climate vandalism - and the Green Party is calling on the Government to release all the advice...

Luxon’s free pass to the fossil fuel industry needs to be stopped

Chris Luxon is giving big oil and gas corporations a free pass at a time when countries all over the world agree to transition away from fossil fuels.

Story

Cabinet’s emissions pricing plan leaves too much to chance

Only the Green Party has a plan to reduce agricultural emissions at the scale and pace needed. The Labour Cabinet’s plan for pricing agriculture em...

Greens celebrate passing of Organic Products and Production Bill

Following decades of work by the Green Party alongside the organics sector, people will finally be able to be confident that products labelled orga...

Report shows reducing actual farming emissions vital

Evidence shows that relying on offsets to reduce agriculture’s impact on the climate will not work, the Green Party says.

Government handing Fonterra a free pass

Minister O’Connor should immediately pause the Government’s proposed Fonterra Bill and review its potential impact on the climate, the Green Party ...

Agricultural emissions proposal falls short

The He Waka Eke Noa agricultural emissions pricing proposal leaves more questions than answers, the Green Party says.

Phase out PKE as part of climate plan

The Green Party is calling on the Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor to phase out the use of the Palm Kernel Expeller (PKE) on farms to help ...