Labour Vows to Change Tact on How to Handle Freshwater Rules
A Labour-led Government won’t be bringing back the controversial freshwater rules of 2020.
Beef+Lamb New Zealand says Labour’s climate policy announcement points to an emerging political consensus that agriculture and climate policy must be practical, internationally aligned and fair to farmers.
Labour is also reconsidering the role of forestry, developing new rules to prevent whole-farm conversions, pausing new forestry registrations while the work is completed, and ensuring the ETS supports New Zealand’s Paris targets.
B+LNZ chair Kate Acland says those signals are welcome.
“It is encouraging to see broad recognition that pricing agricultural emissions is not the right tool, and that the ETS should not keep incentivising the loss of productive sheep and beef farmland into carbon forestry.
“Farmers will also be seeking reassurances that agricultural emissions pricing will not be revived through coalition negotiations or future policy reviews.
“Labour’s potential coalition partners support agricultural emissions pricing, so Labour needs to make it clear that keeping agriculture out of emissions pricing would be a bottom line in any negotiations, if it is elected.”
Announcing its policy last week, Labour leader Chris Hipkins and climate change spokeswoman Deborah Russell said the party would urgently review the scheme and move quickly to implement any changes.
Hipkins also confirmed Labour would not campaign on pricing agricultural emissions, ending nearly two decades of Labour campaigning on some form of emissions pricing for agriculture.
Labour is concerned at the rampant tree planting that has depressed the ETS price without encouraging emissions reductions. A low ETS price encourages polluting firms to buy offsets instead of investing in processes that actually reduce their emissions.
Acland says red meat farmers agree that there is no need to price agricultural emissions.
“Sheep and beef farmers are already cutting emissions, and New Zealand should be backing them with practical tools and incentives, not loading them with costs our overseas competitors do not face.
“Labour’s announcement is in line with our international partners. Updated research released by B+LNZ in May found no country is looking to include agriculture in an emissions trading scheme, and virtually no country is looking to price agricultural emissions.
“Most jurisdictions are instead using incentives, investment, carbon credits and market-led approaches to support farmers to reduce emissions.”
