New Zealand is set to become the first country in the world to reduce agricultural emissions through a system of pricing and reporting.
Consultations are now open on options to price agricultural emissions, including how the emissions levy will be set, governance arrangements of the system, and how farmers will ultimately report and pay for their emissions. Sequestration will also play a part in how levies are calculated, with farmers benefitting from the occurrence of sequestration in managed indigenous and riparian vegetation. Included in the consultation document are recommendations from government, Māori and industry partnership He Waka Eke Noa.
The proposal will strongly incentivise farmers to reduce methane emissions and move the country closer to meeting its Zero Carbon Act 2030 methane reduction target.
Although biogenic methane, meaning methane that is produced by living organisms, doesn’t stay in the atmosphere for as long as C02, it has a much greater warming potential and so its management plays a crucial role in climate change mitigation. Agricultural emissions represent around half of Aotearoa New Zealand’s total emissions, making this an extremely important policy area.
The Nelson Tasman Climate Forum is committed to providing a strong voice in the climate action arena and as such are creating a working group to work on a Forum-wide submission to government.
Charter signatories will have an opportunity for input on this submission in early November and our October 26th hui will look at the plan in more detail. Consultations will close on November 18th.