May 4, 2022
He Waka Eke Noa Partners are moving ahead with developing a set of recommendations to the government on a framework for reducing agricultural emissions including using a price to motivate and reward reductions.
The Government’s clear that there will be a price on agricultural emissions from 2025.
But many farmers are not waiting until 2025 and are using the information and tools already available to manage their emissions.
I’d encourage those who have not yet calculated their emissions or looked at what they could do to reduce their impact, to get started. There’s information on options for reducing emissions in our Farm Planning Guidance.
As always, feel free to drop us a line on yourfeedback@hewakaekenoa.nz or talk to your industry rep.
Kelly Forster
Programme Director
The He Waka Eke Noa Partners are in the process of deciding what will be recommended to Government at the end of May.
As you’re aware, we have a window of opportunity to recommend an alternative to including agricultural emissions in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.
There’s a lot to work through, including feedback from consultation in February and March.
We heard a large amount of concern about the potential impact of any levy on the financial viability of farming and we are focussing on mitigating the impact as far as possible. We are working to minimise costs and maximise the impact of incentives to reduce emissions.
We heard that, of the options proposed, there was a preference for a farm level system because it gives farmers control over managing their farm businesses and emissions profile. We also heard concerns about readiness to implement a system by 2025 and are looking hard at what is practically achievable.
The leaders of all partner organisations are actively involved in discussions, and we are continuing to talk to other groups in the sector.
The recommendations report is due to Ministers by 31 May.
A new calculator has now been added to the list of those assessed as meeting He Waka Eke Noa requirements for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. This brings the total number of available calculators to 11 – Alltech, B+LNZ GHG Calculator, E2M, Farmax, Farm emanage (Toitū), Fonterra, Hort NZ, MyImprint Farm, MfE, Overseer and ProductionWise (FAR).
You can find out more about these tools in the assessment reports available on our website at https://hewakaekenoa.nz/tools-and-calculators.
Climate change and He Waka Eke Noa continue to attract media coverage. Here are a couple of interesting articles you may not have seen.
Climate impact a factor for consumers, says Silver Fern Farms
Time to signal to customers we have done the right thing, writes commentator Allan Barber