In April and May 2024 the Commission consulted on its advice to Government about New Zealand’s methane reduction targets and related issues.
About the consultation
The Commission consulted on what emissions reductions are possible by 2040, what we should aim for by 2050, and what types of emissions we should take responsibility for.
The Commission reviews New Zealand’s current emissions budgets and recommends the maximum level of the next emissions budget every few years but only looks at the targets every five years.
They indicated they believe New Zealand’s targets could be more ambitious to compensate for the rest of the world’s actions not being on track to keep warming below 1.5 degrees.
B+LNZ’s response
B+LNZ provided a submission on behalf of farmers to highlight the inequity of the approach the Commission took. Our submission included economic analysis of the impacts of the Commission’s suggested approach.
B+LNZ does not accept the current emissions reduction targets and want these to be changed so that methane is asked to do what is being asked of other gases, which is to achieve no additional warming.
Access the joint B+LNZ and Deer Industry New Zealand submission (PDF, 830 KB) here.
We also provided a pre-written submission template for farmers to make their own submissions.
Related review
At a similar time, the Government also announced it would begin an independent review of the methane science and targets. More information available here.