According to the most recent figures, greenhouse gases emitted by New Zealand's dairy industry have reached an all-time high.
Dairy emissions increased 3.18 percent in 2019, to 17,719 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to new data from Stats NZ for the years 2007-2019. This increase contributed to the overall growth of the agriculture sector, which emitted about 42,000 kilotonnes that year.
Agriculture accounted for more than half of all industry and household emissions recorded by Stats NZ, with dairy, sheep, and beef production accounting for most of this. The surge was part of a longer-term trend in New Zealand agriculture emissions, which had increased by 5.5 percent in the last decade.
The pollutants produced by New Zealand's 6.3 million cows' digestive tracts are one of the country's most serious environmental issues. Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming and climate catastrophe.
It's "no surprise" that "when you let businesses and industries regulate themselves, they basically preserve the status quo of their pollution profile," according to Greenpeace spokesperson Steve Abel.
"To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, you need to step in and regulate and legislate," he added.
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New Zealand is one of the poorest performers in the world when it comes to emissions growth. Between 1990 and 2018, its emissions increased by 57 percent, the second-highest rise among all industrialized countries. According to figures released earlier this year, New Zealand's emissions climbed by 2% in 2018-19.
"Food isn't a nice-to-have. It's a must-have," Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard said. "New Zealand farmers are among the best in the world at providing food with a shallow footprint."
"It hasn't fixed anything for New Zealand to embark on some virtue signaling campaign to shut down its agriculture industry simply to claim 'Hey, we've lowered a bunch of emissions,'" he continued.
According to Hoggard, the industry is optimistic that new scientific advances such as methane inhibitors, breeding, and utilizing alternative types of feed will continue to minimize methane emissions.
New Zealand enacted multipartisan climate legislation in 2019 that set a net-zero CO2 emissions target for 2050 and established the Climate Change Commission to chart a path to that goal. The government is constitutionally obligated to respond to the commission's findings, issued in June with policy recommendations, but has yet to do so.
According to the commission's study, some of the effort to reduce methane emissions could be made by improved agricultural methods and breeding animals that generated less gas. Still, it would also necessitate a 10% -15% reduction in total herd numbers.
Hoggard also stated that methane emissions were down from 2006, despite evidence revealing that methane emissions peaked that year. Since 2008, methane emissions have largely increased.
According to Abel, the data released on Thursday should be considered a conservative estimate because it excludes emissions from transportation, coal used to dry milk powder, and palm kernel emissions imported for food.
"All of the dairy industry's claims that it will self-regulate and take control of the problem are plainly not functioning, as seen by real emissions data," said Abel.
"We need farming, but it has to stop being this industrial polluter and instead focus on keeping the land healthy, our rivers healthy, and our freshwater healthy, rather than causing catastrophic weather events through climate change."
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