Responding to climate change
Climate change is the biggest environmental challenge of our time. Global warming has already significant ecological impacts with major social and economic consequences. Primary sectors in New Zealand are increasingly looking at how climate change could affect them. The AgriBusiness Group has been helping sectors to understand their climate change impacts through measuring emissions, with the kiwifruit industry being the latest example.
NREL researchers discuss panel orientation and spacing in South Deerfield, MA. They are researching simultaneously growing crops under PV Arrays while producing electricity from the panels. Photo: Unsplash
Industries and businesses are vital in the effort to fight climate change. In New Zealand, primary industries have a significant role to play, given that the pastoral sector alone produces about half of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions, which is unusual for a developed country. On the plus side, New Zealand's forests also capture and store a lot of carbon dioxide, reducing national net emissions.
The role of governments is to set national targets that are in line with international agreements and provide the appropriate regulatory framework to achieve the set emissions reductions. The Zero Carbon (Climate Change Response Amendment) Act established the ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gases to net-zero by 2050. As for emissions of biogenic methane, New Zealand is not aiming for net-zero but a reduction of 10% below 2017 levels by 2030, and of 24%-47% by 2050. The different tiers reflect that reducing methane emissions is more difficult to achieve in an economy that has a large pastoral base.
Stakeholders within primary sectors have started setting climate change related goals. For example, Fonterra has set a target of net-zero emissions for its operations by 2050; the sheep & beef and the wine sector also aim to be carbon neutral by 2050 as well; Zespri are aiming for the kiwifruit industry to be carbon positive by 2035. This trend is set to continue as consumers and customers are increasingly looking for products that have a minimal environmental impact.
Disclosure, measurement and reporting
Disclosing climate change risk has also grown in popularity. The New Zealand Government is currently considering widening its proposed climate change risk mandatory disclosure scheme to include government departments and large non-listed companies. A recent report has identified that many New Zealand companies do not currently measure their greenhouse gas emissions, but plenty are planning to. As sectors set emission targets, they are compelled to measure and report their emissions to show progress towards those targets.
In the primary industry, Fonterra now reports its manufacturing emissions as well as on-farm emissions (in its annual sustainability report). Zespri has just remeasured the carbon footprint of its supply chain (with help from The AgriBusiness Group) for the second time, with the results recently published on its website. Again, this is a trend that is set to continue. In addition to Zespri, The AgriBusiness Group is working with other clients to support the measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of strategies to mitigate them, and adaptation to climate change impacts. We are currently investigating which measures to take to achieve carbon neutrality.
Author: Jayson Benge
