Wednesday, 02 November 2016 06:55

Not as simple as planting trees to reduce emissions — Guy

Written by  Pam Tipa
Nathan Guy. Nathan Guy.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment report highlights that this issue is not as simple as whether agriculture is in or out of the ETS.

It requires a broader discussion than that, he says.

“For example, planting the right trees, in the right place, at the right time can buy us time to find options to reduce biological emissions from agriculture.”

The Government is supporting these efforts through the Afforestation Grant Scheme, the Erosion Control Funding Programme and the Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change research programme.

“The Government is also investing $20 million a year in research into developing new mitigation options like a vaccine to reduce emissions from agriculture, which is a very promising long term option.”

Guy says agricultural emissions make up 49% of New Zealand’s gross emissions.

“Reducing them while growing our economy is a difficult challenge, but it’s one we must solve.

“For that reason we recently established the biological emissions reference group to work with the sector to state an objective and agreed understanding of what can be done to reduce agricultural emissions.”

More like this

Featured

Southland Farmers Face Wet Weather Toll, Support Available

Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.

How Wearable Tech Powers This 1,850-Cow Dairy Farm

For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.

New Dairy Welfare Code Released, Takes Effect 2027

The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

'LinkedIn Greens'

OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…

UK Warning

OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter