Stakeholder update: June 2022

June 8, 2022

 

Recommendations report released

Today we are marking a significant milestone, with the release of the He Waka Eke Noa recommendations on pricing agricultural emissions. Find the report and supporting documents here.

We formally released our report at a media conference in Wellington this morning, attended by most partners (as shown in the photo above). Irrigation New Zealand and Deer Industry New Zealand were unable to attend as both had pre-planned events with their members.

He Waka Eke Noa Chair, Michael Ahie, said at the media conference that: “this is the best option to help farmers and growers transition to lower-emissions food production while maintaining viable businesses.”

You can watch Michael talking about the recommendations in a short video here.

All partners endorsed the recommended approach as a better alternative for the sector than the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. There are links to partner media releases below.

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Climate Change Minister James Shaw have said, separate to the media conference, that they welcome the report, and will carefully consider it.  You can read their statement here.

There’s a lot of comment in the media already. Below are links to key interviews and media releases, so you can see and hear first-hand what we have said.

It’s now time to briefly draw breath and acknowledge the hard work of all the 13 He Waka Eke Noa Partners, including the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry for the Environment, who have put a tremendous amount of effort into developing these recommendations.

I also want to acknowledge the many supporters who have contributed to our work, including AgResearch and other research organisations, and the consultants and specialists we have called on.

I’ll continue to keep you posted as we move on to the next phase of our work.

Ngā mihi

Kelly Forster
Programme Director

 

Links

Programme director Kelly Forster, Dairy NZ Chair Jim van der Poel and Beef + Lamb Director Nicky Hyslop spoke to Kathryn Ryan on Radio New Zealand this morning.  Listen to the interview here

DairyNZ statement

Beef + Lamb NZ and Meat Industry Association statement

Horticulture New Zealand statement

Te Aukaha, Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA) statement

Federated Farmers and other partners have emailed their farmers and growers directly.