This paper focuses on New Zealand’s policy around the environment and climate change. There are many contradictory elements to the situation in New Zealand: on one hand, New Zealand wants to promote a “clean green” image to bolster tourism; while on the other hand it does not respect its commitments to the Kyoto Protocol (reducing their emission to the same level as in 1990[1]) as the country’s carbon emissions have increased 22% above the 1990 level. There are three sectors which bear the brunt of the responsibility: transport with 20%, electricity with 9% and agricultural emissions with 48% (methane and nitrous). It is clear that nearly half of the greenhouse gas emissions originate from agriculture (livestock emissions, animal excrement and fertilizer).
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emission by sector, 2007:
Over the years, the country has taken a very passive approach, claiming that the gas emissions have increased very much in line with population growth. Furthermore, the unofficial argument is that it is practically impossible to change these agricultural emissions, due to agriculture’s significant role in the New Zealand economy. According to this point of view, significantly reducing carbon emissions would be tantamount to culling the gross domestic product. In this paper, the first section will explain how the international carbon market works and why this market is not adequate to the agricultural sector. On the other hand, the second section will envisage several alternative solutions to curbing carbon emissions in agriculture, with an emphasis on ‘organic agriculture’.
[1] Ministry for the environment, “The Kyoto Protocol”, http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/climate/international/kyoto-protocol.html. (accessed August 20, 2009)