Source: Greenpeace
Greenpeace is condemning the proposal to build a ‘coal-to-fertiliser’ factory in Southland through the Fast Track process, saying it will worsen climate change, further contaminate drinking water, and destabilise food system resilience in Aotearoa.
Greenpeace agriculture spokesperson Will Appelbe says, “This year, New Zealand communities have been hit repeatedly with deadly floods and storms, driven by the climate crisis, which have destroyed homes and livelihoods. And in the middle of this, an Australian company wants to come to New Zealand and use the dirtiest, most polluting fossil fuel to create more fertiliser for New Zealand’s dirtiest, most climate-polluting industry.”
“This proposal would add to a toxic cocktail of pollution that is cooking the climate, contaminating drinking water, and wrecking lakes and rivers across the country. It would burn more fossil fuels and fundamentally increase New Zealand agribusiness’ reliance on unsustainable inputs.”
Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand than the entire domestic aviation industry, and is also one of the biggest contributors to contamination in freshwater ecosystems, leading to nitrate contamination.
“Everybody has the right to safe, clean drinking water, swimmable rivers, and a stable climate – and we want our kids and grandkids to get to experience that too. Building the proposed factory would undermine those rights for future generations, all for the sake of producing milk powder for use in confectionery products,” says Appelbe.
“This fertiliser plant would induce demand, and bake in a reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser for decades, forcing New Zealand farmers to stay trapped in a system that doesn’t work for people, animals, or the planet.”
Access to fertiliser is a hot topic for New Zealand farmers, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. However, Greenpeace says that any reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser puts the New Zealand agricultural sector at risk.
“Instead of furthering the addiction to urea, we need to break the cycle and transition to ways of farming that work with nature to grow real food to feed New Zealanders.”
“That means phasing out the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, reducing herd sizes, and transitioning to ecological, plant-based agricultural practices that are more resilient in the face of global shocks.”
