Greenpeace calls on Govt to walk away from failed He Waka Eke Noa

Greenpeace is calling on the Government to walk away from the voluntary agribusiness industry partnership known as He Waka Eke Noa which has today admitted that it won’t do the one thing it was supposed to: reduce agricultural emissions.

“The He Waka Eke Noa voluntary partnership with big agribusiness polluters is like a round-table of foxes discussing security measures for the hen house. It’s time to walk away,” says Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Christine Rose.

“The dairy industry has shown that it will always resist measures to reduce emissions. Today’s proposal is just more of the same deflection and deferral and doesn’t stack up.

“The Government must get real and put rules in place that will actually reduce emissions. We know what needs to be done, Jacinda Ardern and James Shaw need to show some mettle, stand up to the dairy industry and include 100% of agricultural emissions immediately.

“Action to reduce agricultural emissions means tackling the dairy industry – New Zealand’s worst climate polluter – and that means far fewer cows, it means cutting synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, it means fully including agriculture in the ETS and ending subsidies, and it means backing a shift to regenerative farming.

“Relying on endless consultations to find answers we already know, and voluntary agreements that are designed to fail is like shuffling the deckchairs as the lifeboat burns.”

According to the discussion document He Waka Eke Noa itself released today, “initial modelling suggests these prices would lead to reductions in total agricultural emissions of less than 1% reduction in both CH4 and N2O below 2017 levels, additional to reductions as a result of other environmental policies.”