Nestle reportedly withdraws from methane accord
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: Farmers have always been wary of the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Under the previous Labour government, further amendments were made to the legislation imposing a patchwork of restrictions on the way Kiwis use their land, all in the name of reducing emissions.
However, a member’s bill recently lodged by ACT MP and Northland dairy farmer Mark Cameron seeks to restore longstanding provisions to the RMA that prohibit regional councils from considering climate change as a factor in their plans.
Cameron’s bill would prevent regional and district councils from regulating greenhouse gas emissions and is a smart step for climate change policy.
After all, greenhouse gas emissions are a global rather than local challenge. It has never made sense for local councils to individually regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
As Cameron points out, property rights were sacrificed to the climate gods in a way that wouldn’t even reduce net emissions.
“It’s not feasible to have regional councils trying to save the world’s climate. In fact, it’s hopeless, because emissions are already managed nationally under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Having regional councils regulate greenhouse gas emissions has the potential to create huge headaches for farmers.
Federated Farmers points out that Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) has proposed a target of a 50% reduction in all greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, including biogenic methane.
For Wairarapa farmers who sit inside the GWRC’s boundaries, this means a resource consent application could set conditions that require farmers to reduce emissions in line with the 50% target. This raises questions for all resource consent applications. For example, could a new road or house fail a resource consent application if it wasn’t viewed as consistent with a 50% reduction?
None of this makes any sense when carbon dioxide emissions are already captured under the ETS.
That’s why Cameron’s bill makes sense.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
If there was a silver lining in the tragedy that was Cyclone Gabrielle, for New Zealand Young Grower of the Year, Grace Fulford, it was the tremendous sense of community and seeing first-hand what good leadership looks like.
New research could help farmers prepare for a future where summer rainfall is increasingly unpredictable and where drought risk is rising, no matter what.
The first calves of a new crossbred dairy-beef offering are now on the ground at a Pamu (Landcorp) farm near Taupo.
Spinach is NZ's favourite leafy green, according to the Department of Statistics.
OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.
OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first…