Press release - August 30, 2017
Responding to the Government’s announcement that it will be setting up a new $400,000 scholarship programme for agricultural greenhouse gas research, Greenpeace sustainable agriculture campaigner, Genevieve Toop, says:
“The Government’s $400,000 funding commitment to agricultural greenhouse gas research is pitiful compared to the $480 million it has set aside for big irrigation, which will increase the number of cows and our agricultural emissions to record levels.
“The climate would be far better off if we got rid of 400,000 cows rather than spent $400,000 on more research.
“Fewer cows is good for our climate and good for our rivers, yet that’s exactly what the National Government is refusing to commit to.”
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released a report in 2016 on the options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. The report found that as technology is not yet available, and the only sure way to decrease emissions from agriculture is to have less livestock.