Agriculture
Everyone deserves fresh, healthy food grown in a way that’s good for the climate, rivers, wildlife and communities.
Over the past thirty years, farming in New Zealand has changed. Family farms are steadily being replaced by corporate, monoculture farms, with dairy cows crammed into every corner.
Intensive dairying is making the climate, the water and our communities sick. Industrial agriculture is New Zealand’s biggest climate polluter, largely thanks to all those dairy cows. Aotearoa’s rivers and lakes are in the worst state they’ve ever been. Even our drinking water is at risk.
Take action today
We want you to take action because together we’re strong.
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PETITION: Stop Fonterra using Palm Kernel
Call on Fonterra to end the use of rainforest destroying palm kernel on its farms by banning palm kernel in the Farmers’ Terms of Supply.
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Tell Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to stop the rollback of freshwater protection
Every New Zealander should be able to swim in clean rivers and know that the water coming out of their kitchen tap is safe to drink.
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Open Letter to Stop the Fast Track
Sign on to this open letter to industry now to help push more of them to opt out of the Fast Track.
Why it matters
We’re already seeing the shocking effects of the climate crisis. Places like Australia and California have faced raging wildfires. Storms and other destructive weather events are set to become more frequent and intense.
Even if we stopped using all fossil fuels tomorrow, we’d still be on the path to global heating because of the way we’re farming.
Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and intensive dairying is also causing alarmingly high levels of nitrate contamination in our drinking water – endangering people’s health. Pregnant people who drink high nitrate water risk preterm and underweight babies, and scientists warn that nitrate in drinking water could be causing 100 cases of bowel cancer and 40 deaths per year in New Zealand. Rural communities on bore water are the most at risk. What is more – it can take up to 20 years to feel the full impacts of nitrate pollution on our waterways and on human health, meaning it is even more important to stop nitrate contamination at source. This is about people’s lives.
Farming can be part of the climate solution, but we need to make some changes.
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Luxon’s methane target gamble risks farmers’ future
Luxon’s methane target decision is looming. But backtracking on climate commitments would risk the New Zealand farming industry’s future.
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“Will they protect freshwater?” – Greenpeace reveals Environment Canterbury candidate scorecard
Greenpeace has asked candidates standing for the Environment Canterbury regional council whether they’ll protect fresh water. Here are their responses.
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Environment Canterbury freshwater scorecard – what do your candidates think?
Curious what Environment Canterbury’s regional council election candidates really think about freshwater protections? We’ve got you covered.
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How the NZ Food Safety agency downplays pesticide residue results, and then does nothing to enforce the law
No prosecutions for illegal pesticide residues in food
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Greenpeace to bring Canterbury’s contaminated water to ECan
Greenpeace is holding a rally outside Environment Canterbury on the council’s final sitting day before elections to call for clean drinking water now.
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Seymour is rage-baiting on Paris Agreement – Luxon mustn’t bite
Greenpeace cautions Luxon that David Seymour is ragebaiting over leaving Paris – and warns the PM not to weaken the methane target.
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Palm kernel imports skyrocketing as climate crisis worsens
Greenpeace is revealing that new data provided by Stats NZ shows that palm kernel imports for the first six months of 2025 are higher than they have been at any…
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Four things you can do in the local elections to protect Canterbury’s fresh water
Canterbury’s local elections are a critical moment to defend fresh water! Here are four easy things you can do to protect lakes, rivers, and drinking water.
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Grass-fed greenwash: Govt’s new grass fed standards written by Fonterra
New evidence acquired by Greenpeace has revealed that Fonterra first requested, and then helped to write, the Government’s new grass-fed standards.