“Following the government’s new announcement to lower the methane emissions reduction target from farming, Climate Justice Taranaki is concerned for the thousands of farm workers and their communities who have now had their future gutted by the government and farmer lobby groups’ complete failure to understand and address the causes and effects of climate change. Farming is one of the most climate impacted businesses now and in the future,” says Climate Justice Taranaki spokesperson Tuhi-Ao Bailey.

“It’s ridiculous really. These farmers, through the undue political influence of a couple of groups, stand to lose everything by failing to see their part to play in reducing climate change. Not only are many farms heavily in debt, despite the current high payout price, but collectively they have no plan for when fossil fuels become unavailable or unaffordable to process and transport their goods out of the country. And they have no plan for adapting to increasing storms, drought, disease and economic crises caused by climate change. Technology cannot save them or it would have already. And this current government definitely has no idea what they’re doing in this arena as they gut the economy and drive more of our people overseas.”

“We urgently call on farming lobby groups to think long term and think of others. Just by saying something doesn’t exist, doesn’t make it so. Aotearoa New Zealand is the fifth worst climate polluter per capita in the world and over half our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Our rivers, soils and drinking water are also being degraded severely. Farmers must take responsibility for their polluting businesses.”

“Farms are and will continue to be some of the worst hit industries by climate change and by failing to account for their costs dumped on the environment and society they will have no buffer to protect them when they need it. Their social license is already under fire with many people in this country unwilling or unable to pay exorbitant international prices for their goods. With Chinese ag markets on the rise, they will be under even more pressure.”

In 2024 Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, said “you can’t ignore climate change. It will impact on your business one way or the other. Either the world will rapidly reduce emissions – which will hurt some sectors a lot or we will face a very different climate – which will hurt everyone. Either way, global value chains are vulnerable. We don’t make global trade rules, and we can’t control the weather. The same is true for other environmental pressures like water quality and waste. This makes it very unlikely that the physical environment we once took for granted is going to resemble the one our grandchildren inherit. Stuff that we thought we understood is going to become unpredictable. And that will be costly.”

“We call on the farming sector to heavily divest from dirty export commodity products and invest in diverse, regenerative, local market goods that are affordable and support local communities. That is the only future of farming in this country,” concluded Bailey.