Council wants detail: Farmers, environmentalists differ on emissions plan

The Government’s draft Emissions Reduction Plan is too vague and needs more detail on how it will manage greater forestry planting, the Gisborne District Council says. 

Environmentalists fear the plan will appease the pasture and pine industries and negatively affect sustainable land use in Tairāwhiti, while farmers worry it could actually backfire and increase global emissions. 

The draft plan was released last month and shows how the Government will meet greenhouse gas budgets as it works towards a net-zero carbon emissions goal by 2050. 

The council supports the plan’s intent but says it lacks detail. 

The region has experienced 16 extreme weather events since 2017, causing forestry slash and woody debris to clog waterways and beaches. 

Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann says the Government needs to carefully manage the unintended consequences of greater forestry planting so they are not irreversibly locked in. 

“We believe the central Government needs to work with and partner with councils across Aotearoa as they, along with communities, are at the frontline of climate change mitigation and adaptation and will bear the brunt of its impacts.” 

Thatcher Swann says the Government must account for the impact and cost of its climate policies on local government, and when appropriate, provide councils with funding to support implementation. 

The council is exploring ways to provide Tairāwhiti-specific controls that reflected the region’s landscape, she says. 

Plans are under way to designate land that farmers and forestry companies cannot operate on due to the risk of landslides and erosion. 

Consultation for the plan ends on Sunday. 

The council says it won’t be writing a submission due to the little change coming from processes on recent government proposals, but will submit feedback and content for local government sector submissions. 

Federated Farmers will write a submission that raises concerns about how the plan could negatively affect agriculture.  

Charlie Reynolds, Federated Farmers Gisborne and Wairoa provincial president, says the submission will request land use flexibility to allow farmers to adapt. 

“Too often farmers need a resource consent to try something different on-farm.  

“If we want farmers to adapt their land use to a changing climate, we need to be able to make farming decisions without facing tens of thousands of dollars of resource consenting costs.” 

Reynolds also says the plan could backfire in terms of global emissions. 

“The reason any country tries to reduce emissions is to support a global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

“After all, it is ‘global warming’ not ‘Gisborne warming’. 

“If we price agricultural emissions, however, we know sheep and beef production will reduce dramatically. This will mean our overseas competitors simply produce more, driving up global emissions.” 

New Zealand meat production was much more efficient than most global competitors, Reynolds said. 

“Every kilogram of greenhouse gases we reduce by producing less meat is likely to result in at least an extra kilogram-and-a-half of greenhouse gases overseas. 

“So, this clearly isn’t helping the climate at all,” he said. 

Federated Farmers also opposed the locking in of pricing agricultural emissions by 2030. 

“Rather than locking in a policy like pricing, we argue the Emissions Reduction Plan should simply commit to continue to work on 

things like investing in research and on-farm measurement,” Reynolds said. 

Environmental group Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti, which created a petition that led to the inquiry into land use, criticised the plan as being too vague, “with little detail or impact on emissions reduction”. 

The group plans to submit a 20-page report which addresses concerns and proposes solutions for the plan. 

Its submission says the council has taken a proactive response that is congruent with the urgency of the environmental crisis. “They have taken measures to address community concerns but the central government has left us wanting.” 

One of the group’s proposals is to reform regulations to allow local authorities to enforce restrictions that stop exotic planting on erosion-prone land, and to promote the conversion of these areas into native forests. 

When announcing the draft document, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said the plan focused on transitioning to a low-emissions economy. 

“This draft Emissions Reduction Plan shows that with effective climate change policies, we can both grow the economy and deliver our climate change commitments.” 

Eastland Wood Council chairman Julian Kohn said it was not submitting anything on the plan.