NZ greenhouse gas polluters put on notice
Only farming should be able to offset its greenhouse gas emissions using forests as sinks, a new climate change report recommends.
Businesses that burn fossil fuels and create dangerous carbon dioxide need to reduce their emissions to a net zero as soon as possible, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton says.
Federated Farmers said it was ‘‘delighted’’ Upton had recognised the fundamental difference between carbon dioxide and shorter term methane and nitrous oxide (biological) emissions.
However, Climate Change Minister James Shaw rejected the recommendation, saying forestry made sense given the tiny window of time to seriously fight climate change.
Most carbon dioxide emissions come from transport, electricity generation or businesses using coal or gas in boilers. It is regarded as the most dangerous greenhouse gas, lingering in the atmosphere for thousands of years.
Upton said if these businesses wanted to offset their emissions, they should look to means other than planting forests, but more importantly they should look at ways of reducing emissions.
He recommends the twopronged approach in the report entitled Farms, Forests and Fossil Fuels: The next great landscape transformation. ‘‘We could store carbon in forests over large areas of New Zealand and score a net zero accounting triumph around mid-century; or adopt a more ambitious approach to reducing fossil emissions and make a clear statement about how far biological emissions should be reduced.’’
He said in contrast to carbon dioxide, the biological greenhouse gases of methane and nitrous oxide were removed more quickly from the atmosphere by natural processes, so they did not need to go to zero. Farmers were not let off the hook by the approach, partly because as heavy fossil fuel users they would face high emissions prices.
Federated Farmers climate change spokesman Andrew Hoggard said the report’s message mirrored that of climate scientist Professor Myles Allen of Oxford University, who wrote the lead chapter in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
‘‘During his visit to New Zealand earlier this month he also emphasised that livestock are not the core problem for global warming, and noted that a farmer achieving gently declining methane emissions from his herd or flock achieves the same impact on global warming as a mothballed coal-fired power station – nil,’’ Hoggard said.
Fonterra sustainability director Carolyn Mortland said the report contributed to the debate about how to regulate agricultural emissions.
‘‘We can see it highlights the importance of treating different greenhouse gases differently and developing tools to manage biological emissions while promoting healthy water, soil, and biodiversity.’’
Fonterra supported the Paris Agreement and was committed to helping the country meet its climate ambitions.
Upton’s report contains three recommendations:
❚ Develop two separate targets for the second half of the century: a zero gross fossil emissions target to be legislated as part of the establishment of the new Climate Commission; and a reduction target for biological emissions to be recommended by the new commission and subsequently legislated.
❚ Allow access to forest sinks as offsets only for biological emissions on a basis to be advised by the Climate Commission.
❚ Develop the tools needed to manage biological sources and sinks in the context of a landscape-based approach that embraces water, soil and biodiversity objectives.