National says no place for agriculture in ETS at the moment
First published in Energy and Environment on June 20, 2019.
National’s primary sector policy discussion document again indicates the party will not support the inclusion of
agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme until “there are practical technologies available for farmers to reduce
emissions”.
While much of the discussion document is phrased in the way of policy questions, it shows strong resistance to including
animal emissions in the ETS and the Government’s proposed target for methane reductions.
The party says it is proud to have signed up to the Paris Agreement, which “requires us to restructure our domestic
economy to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the second half of the century without threatening food
production. We stand by that ambition”.
It said change must be guided by targets based on the best available science that assesses the three key greenhouse
gases and their impacts independently.
Emissions reductions should be achieved by adopting new technologies rather than reducing sector activity, in pace with
global trading partners and not placing undue burden on single regions.
“We need to be open to the positive contribution biotechnology can make to reduce agriculture admissions. We favour
sector wide farm management plans. We need to deliver on the changes to Overseer to improve its accuracy and use as a
mitigation tool.”
Decisions on inclusion in the ETS should be made after emissions reducing technologies have been shown to be practical
and affordable.
“We are broadly comfortable with the (Climate Change) Commission’s design and the adoption of a split gas approach but
have serious concerns with the proposed methane target of 24-47% reduction by 2050. This target is not in keeping with
the scientific advice that had been provided by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, who suggested a
10-22% reduction by 2050 to avoid additional warming from methane. The Government has said that scientific advice on
this is unclear. In our view it is exactly the sort of decision the newly formed scientific Climate Commission should
provide advice on, rather than politicians cherry picking numbers.”
The paper cites the need to change biotechnology and genetic modification laws which they say have been overtaken by
technology.
National said it was committed to reforming the RMA.
“In many areas the RMA has become too unpredictable and inefficient. Large infrastructure projects can be bogged down in
RMA processes for years and Environment Court decisions can be full of surprises. Farmers are having to spend large sums
on consultants for resource applications to farm or irrigate. There will always be debate on the appropriate balance
between the environment and development. National will amend the RMA with a focus on making it more predictable and
efficient. Farmers deserve clear rules on the environment and should be able to focus on improving farm performance, not
lengthy resource management applications.”
National also proposes establishing a new Water Infrastructure Fund to assist city and rural councils to improve water
quality, supporting more sustainable agriculture and resilience to climate change.
It also expressed ongoing concern about the One Billion Tree Programme and its impact on rural communities. “The
arbitrary target is overriding best land use resulting in trees being planted in the wrong place. Government needs to be
cautious of subsidising forest plantings and skewing the overseas investment rules against pastoral farming… The
mismanagement and poor execution of the Government’s One Billion Tree Programme is a significant long term financial and
environmental risk for regional New Zealand.”
Speaking in Parliament this week, National’s agriculture spokesman Nathan Guy said the sector was wracked by uncertainty
over policy issues including climate change and water quality.
He also claimed ministers were backing a coming aggressive campaign on farm practices.
“The Government are supporting Fish & Game and Forest & Bird out there to run a campaign, which they're going to launch very, very shortly, against winter grazing in NZ… This
is going to be an orchestrated campaign that's going to line up with David Parker when he comes out and announces very
strict water-quality standards”.
First published in Energy and Environment on June 20, 2019.