Press release - October 29, 2008
Another inappropriate dairy conversion has occurred in New Zealand – this time on John Key’s front lawn.A dwindling pine forest, some dairy cows, several stumps and a truckload of
Ready Lawn now adorn the land at Mr Key’s Helensville electorate office. A large
billboard reads: “Would John stop this climate crime?”
Greenpeace carried out a "dairy conversion" on National Party leader John Key's electorate office to highlight the issue of deforestation for intensive dairying. Intensive dairying is New Zealand's biggest contributor to climate change.
Greenpeace - who installed the new vista - called on the
National Party leader to front up to the issue of deforestation for
intensive dairy farming.
"The National Party has consistently failed to meet the mark
over climate change," said Greenpeace Senior Climate Campaigner
Simon Boxer. "The party rates badly on this issue when compared to
almost every other political party.
"Yet this global crisis is escalating, and so is New Zealand's
contribution to it. We want to know where John Key's commitment to
tackling climate change is and how he and his party would deal with
agriculture's growing emissions."
Today's activity follows non-violent direct action taken by
Greenpeace yesterday in the Central North Island, in which four
activists locked themselves on to logging equipment and another
team rotary hoed 4-metre high letters reading "climate crime" into
freshly cleared pasture (1).
Agriculture makes up half of all New Zealand's emissions and
these continue to rise as more and more forest land is cleared to
make way for corporate farms.
"We're seeing deforestation for corporate dairy on a scale not
seen before in New Zealand. Tens of thousands of hectares of
forests have already been cleared. Government figures suggest
another half million hectares is at risk; a quarter of the nation's
total plantation.
"Not only is the deforestation causing annual carbon emissions
equivalent to the Huntly Power station, but the forests are being
replaced by industrial, intensive farms. This is one of the most
greenhouse gas intensive forms of land use. It's killing the
climate and destroying New Zealand's forestry and tourism
sectors.
"If ever there was a climate crime, intensive dairy farming,
with the associated chainsaw massacre, is it.
Greenpeace is calling on all political parties to ban further
conversion of forests to pasture, to bring agriculture into the ETS
before 2013, and to set an emissions reduction target of 30 per
cent by 2020.
Other contacts: Simon Boxer: Senior Climate Campaigner – 021905579 Kathy Cumming – Media and Communications – 021 495 216
VVPR info: For images and video footage, please contact Michelle Thomas - 02102733730
Notes: (1) http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/news/climate-crime-exposed