Greenpeace: Government’s agriculture research fund “pitiful”
Greenpeace: Government’s agriculture research fund “pitiful”
Wednesday, August 30: Responding to the
Government’s announcement that it will be setting up a new
$400,000 scholarship programme for agricultural greenhouse
gas research, Greenpeace sustainable agriculture campaigner,
Genevieve Toop, says:
“The Government’s $400,000
funding commitment to agricultural greenhouse gas research
is pitiful compared to the $480 million it has set aside for
big irrigation, which will increase the number of cows and
our agricultural emissions to record levels.
“The
climate would be far better off if we got rid of 400,000
cows rather than spent $400,000 on more
research.
“Fewer cows is good for our climate and
good for our rivers, yet that’s exactly what the National
Government is refusing to commit to.”
The
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released a report in 2016 on the options for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. The
report found that as technology is not yet available, and
the only sure way to decrease emissions from agriculture is
to have less
livestock.
ENDS