94% of NZ farmers oppose Paris Agreement, survey shows
A survey of 2000 farmers shows 94% of respondents believe that remaining in the Paris Agreement for climate change is not in the country's best interest.
OPINION: Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
That's the line Deputy Prime Minister and ACT leader David Seymour used on a windy South Auckland dairy farm as he launched his party's position on climate change.
For so long, NZ's mighty hydro lakes and geothermal wells let New Zealanders have it both ways.
"We could go to heaven for having low emissions, but we didn't have to die by having the lights go out. Unfortunately, that golden age of easy choices is over," Seymour says.
ACT is taking a middle ground approach to the Paris Agreement - it's not advocating for leaving the climate change pact, not yet anyway.
It is demanding changes, failing which, we exit the deal, adopted in the French capital in 2015.
New Zealand's 2050 climate target of cutting methane emissions by 24 to 47% of 2017 levels was set by the previous Labour government.
The current Government is being urged by farmer lobby groups to lower the target, and back away from any plans to put a price on methane. A scientific panel, appointed by National, found cutting methane 14-24% of 2017 levels by 2050 would achieve no added warming, but Cabinet has not said whether it will adopt that range as a target.
By seeking changes, ACT is seeking a better deal for farmers - meaning a fairer, more scientific approach to methane.
It has never made sense to treat cow burps the same way as emissions from coal-burning.
The farming community is warming to ACT's potion.
The problem may not be the Paris Agreement itself, but how it's being applied in New Zealand that is hurting farmers and rural communities. Overly ambitious methane reduction targets, whole-farm conversions to carbon forestry, and plans to price agricultural emissions are all homegrown policies.
While not everyone may be willing to put the 'Quit Paris' sticker on their car bumper, they agree on one thing - changes are needed.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.
Graduates of a newly-updated Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) course are taking more value than ever from the programme, with some even walking away calling themselves the “farm CFO”.
Meet the Need, a farmer-led charity, says food insecurity in New Zealand is dire, with one in four children now living in a household experiencing food insecurity, according to Ministry of Health data.
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…