The National-led coalition Government has today confirmed the demise of He Waka Eke Noa and a new Pastoral Sector Group for tackling agricultural climate emissions which Greenpeace says is just more dairy industry collusion and climate denial by the Luxon Government.
Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Niamh O’Flynn says, “It’s no great loss to see the end of He Waka Eke Noa. It was designed by the dairy industry to delay climate action, and it succeeded. It was only ever a tactic in their decades-long strategy of predatory delay, and the new ‘a new Pastoral Sector Group’ announced today is just another version of that.”
“He Waka Eke Noa was spawned by the dairy industry’s capture of the government. Today’s announcement looks less like capture and more like pure collusion intended to allow the dairy industry to escape taking any responsibility for its role in climate change.
“It is concerning to see more climate denial from the Luxon Government, but it’s not surprising as they seem intent on waging an all-out war on nature.
“In the last few days, the coalition government has clearly signalled that the most polluting industries, industrial dairy, and new oil and gas exploration, are free to treat our atmosphere like an open sewer. And our single biggest polluter, Fonterra, gets away unscathed again.
“The dairy industry is New Zealand’s biggest climate polluter, and successive Governments have failed to take any action to restrict its emissions.
“Methane and nitrous oxide are super-heating greenhouse gasses and form a large proportion of New Zealand’s emissions profile. Vast quantities of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser are used every year by the dairy industry to grow enough grass to feed the grossly oversized dairy herd.
“Restarting oil and gas exploration is the pinnacle of reckless disregard for science and common sense. The world cannot afford to burn even known reserves and even the International Energy Agency says there can be no new oil and gas exploration if we are to avoid total climate breakdown.
“New Zealand has signed up to the Paris Agreement, so emissions have to come down. Allowing dairy and agribusiness to continue avoiding responsibility for their emissions via the ETS just means that the rest of us, including other industries, will pay the price through increased costs and increasing pollution from climate disasters and fresh water.”
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