Waiting for answers

"It will just become another tax," he told Rural News.

Van der Poel says farmers are waiting for the Government to spell out its position on an industry emissions pricing scheme.

"We are waiting to hear what happens going forward," he says.

A new Prime Minister and recent weather events around the country have changed the Government's priorities, according to van der Poel.

He has real concerns that, because of delays in the process, there will not be enough time to implement the scheme before the Government's intended start date of January 1, 2025, and as a result, farmers may end up in a processor-level system through to fault of their own.

Van der Poel believes the scheme launch date would need to be pushed back to allow everyone more time.

The Government has proposed bringin in split-gas, farm-level emissions pricing from 2025 in a world-first scheme.

However, the Government is concerned its farm-level scheme may not be ready by 2025 and proposes a processor-level levy as a backstop alternative to the ETS, which farmers oppose.

DairyNZ, with other primary sector stakeholders, is part of He Waka Eke Noa - an industry group pushing for a practical and cost-effective system for reducing emissions at the farm level by 2025 and a farm-level pricing system acceptable to all farmers.

In December last year, the Government made changes to its emissions pricing plan, which includes confirmation the price will be set at the lowest rate needed and fixed for five years to give farmers certainty, and better recognition for on-farm planning. Farmers will also be able to manage and report their emissions as collectives.

While the dairy sector welcomed the changes, it pointed out several issues that needed more work.

The industry responded to the changes and now awaits the Government's reply.

Van der Poel says he expects the Government to "come out soon".

Meanwhile, the latest draft advice from the Climate Change Commission (CCC) also emphasises the need to firm up an emissions price to 2025.

In its latest report, the commission also said there is too much reliance on forestry to offset emissions.

They also want to see a shake-up of the ETS, saying it isn't fit for purpose.

While DairyNZ is still mulling over the draft report, Beef+Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) claims it vindicates the sheep and beef sector's demands for urgent limits on the ability of fossil fuel emitters to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees on productive farmland.

"The Climate Change Commission rightly points out that the current policy settings are incentivising over-planting of trees on farmland, and that if this is not fixed, it will undermine New Zealand meeting its emissions reduction targets effectively and also have significant negative consequences for rural communities," says Sam McIvor, chief executive of B+LNZ.

"B+LNZ has said for a long time that there is a place for forestry in meeting New Zealand's climate change commitments. The integration of trees within farms could be a win-win and go some way towards meeting New Zealand's climate change objectives, whilst maintaining a vibrant and profitable red meat sector.

"But the wholesale conversion of productive sheep and beef farms into carbon farms is a significant problem with fossil fuel emitters simply offsetting and not doing enough to use the currently available tools to reduce their emissions in the first place."

McIvor claims New Zealand is an outlier internationally when it comes to allowing forestry offsetting in the proposed ETS.

B+LNZ will shortly be releasing a report that highlights this disparity and reinforces the need for urgent change.

"The red meat sector is also one of the few parts of the economy that has been doing the heavy lifting in reducing emissions," says McIvor.

"The sector has cut its gross emissions by 30% since 1990 and has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world.

"We've invested millions in technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions like methane sheep."