Climate Change Conversation welcomed

Climate Change Conversation welcomed

Federated Farmers welcomes the Government’s public consultation on climate change, ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, in December.

“We live in a global world, where as much as we are a part of its problems we are a part of its solutions,” says Anders Crofoot, Federated Farmers Climate Change Spokesperson.

“It is important that the public are a part of the discussion in setting New Zealand‘s post 2020 climate change target. A critical element to having that discussion is that everyone understands the issues and trade-offs involved in setting our contribution.”

“New Zealand’s economy is driven by exports with 73 percent of our merchandise exports coming from the primary industries, worth $35.2 billion. UN projections have the global population peaking at 11 billion by 2075 and the FAO estimates that agricultural output must increase by 60 percent by 2050 to meet this growth. While New Zealand cannot feed the world we will play our part. It would be irresponsible of us to squander or underutilise our resources.”

“Aside from being a net food exporter in a world of increasing food shortage, New Zealanders can be very proud that our farmers are among the most carbon efficient in the world. This puts us at an advantage on a global scale both scientifically and economically.”

“Through our commitments with the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases and the Palmerston North based Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium (PGGRC) our country’s leadership extends beyond being an efficient producer of quality food and puts us on the world stage in our ability to reduce emissions.”

“Farmers and their investment in science through levy bodies have reduced their emissions per unit of meat and milk produced by 1.3 percent a year since 1990. Our scientific and innovative advances are something we can export to the rest of the world’s primary producers.”

Mr Crofoot concluded “If we keep investing in institutes like these we will be able to further our climate change commitments whilst growing a strong and vibrant economy.”

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