DairyNZ welcomes the government’s decision to keep agriculture out of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS).
Today the government said it would amend the Climate Change Response Act 2002 by January 1, 2025, to ensure agriculture does not enter the NZ ETS. The government will also establish a Pastoral Sector Group to address methane reductions on-farm.
DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel says the announcement is positive, following a huge amount of uncertainty for dairy farmers.
“New Zealand’s dairy farmers are among the world’s most GHG-efficient producers of milk, and inclusion in the NZ ETS could have shifted production to less-efficient producers offshore, hurting farmers, the economy and the country. That outcome would also increase global emissions.
“To remain internationally competitive, all paths forward must be grounded in a science-based approach. This will ensure a profitable and sustainable future for dairy – and for the rest of New Zealand,” he says.
DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel.
“While there are currently no significant technologies to reduce methane emissions from New Zealand pastoral farms, our farmers continue to make strong progress towards measuring on-farm emissions, and we look forward to contributing to the government’s methane-reduction work. Methane emissions continue to reduce on-farm thanks to farmer action.
“DairyNZ continues to work alongside farmers and research partners to accelerate affordable and effective tools and technologies for reducing emissions at farm level – including testing methane-reducing compounds and delivery options for our pasture-based farms, and exploring low-emissions forages and genetics,” Jim says.
“We also welcome continued investment in R&D across the agriculture sector to develop new technologies – but it remains critical that a well-resourced and co-ordinated extension effort sits alongside this work.”
The government has previously indicated it will introduce a fair, practical pricing system by 2030.
“As a sector, we need clarity around targets and how a pricing mechanism would work with appropriate timeframes and incentives, as well as a selection of practical solutions for use on farm, before any emissions pricing system can be effective,” Jim says.
Media Contact
Justine McLeary
Senior media specialist
e: justine.mcleary@dairynz.co.nz
p: 027 808 0673