A warmer globe will have a huge impact
We know stock produce methane and that gas disappears, but it leaves behind damage and that stays. Jan Wright
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright says New Zealand farmers should beware of synthetic meat and milk being developed by California’s Silicon Valley.
It is a ‘‘major challenge’’, she told the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation conference in Palmerston North. ‘‘We know how fast they can develop things.’’
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions profile was that half of all emissions came from livestock.
‘‘We know stock produce methane and that gas disappears, but it leaves behind damage and that stays.’’
Agricultural mitigation had to work, be something that made a difference, couldn’t have other impacts on the environment, needed to be cost effective and practical for farmers to use.
‘‘Yes we know that feeding brassica limits greenhouse gas, but if stock are standing in a muddy paddock then the environmental gains could be lost.’’
Wright said overseas methane inhibiters were fed to indoors stock with feed brought to animals, but was not an option for the New Zealand hill country.
‘‘DCD [the nitrogen inhibiter which was found in some products and withdrawn from the market] was a sad story. Yes it worked but sometimes the social impact, not the chemical one stops something being used, or developed.
‘‘But I want all you people to keep on trying,’’ she told the many scientists at the conference.
‘‘There is no silver bullet on the horizon, and I was told a vaccine to limit for methane production by animals would be great. But i was also told,it doesn’t exist and might never.’’
She said farmers should be encouraged to plant trees, as the understanding of tree storage of carbon was well known..
‘‘Whether it is the regeneration of natural forests, manuka, kanuka and other species, it all takes carbon dioxide out of the air. Landcare Research estimates there is a million hectares of marginal land.
‘‘Then there are pine forests which take carbon out of the air until they are harvested.
‘‘They could buy us some time and something else might be developed.’’
Wright said farmers do plant a lot of trees and they should get credit for it.
‘‘I am confident our farmers will change. They have done it before and can. It is not like Europe, where generations on the land do the same thing all the time.
‘‘The stand-off is should agricultural emissions be in the ETS? Yes they should.’’
The NZ Emissions Trading Scheme put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, she said.
This provided an incentive for people to reduce emissions and plant forests to absorb carbon dioxide.
The Greens believed any meaningful discussion of the greenhouse gas mitigation and the ETS had to include agriculture.
The livestock industry will have to join others in mitigating greenhouse gases, New Zealand’s climate ambassador, Mark Sinclair, told the conference.
He said the takeaway message from climate talks in Morocco’s Marrakesh, was there were threats to everyone from climate change.
‘‘I heard from many countries, there has to be a focus on agriculture. Once you have cut coal power stations, and everyone has electric cars, then agriculture is left and it will feature more.’’
Sinclair said New Zealand agriculture was held in high regard internationally.
‘‘But there is a sense of urgency that hasn’t happened before. New Zealand can’t afford to undersell it’s place in greenhouse gas research.’’
Sinclair said the world population was projected to reach 10 billion in 2050 and global agriculture was expected to double by then.