Govt emissions plan will lead to loss of production and leakage – DCANZ

Enter Foma

THE DAIRY Companies Association of NZ (DCANZ) says it’s disappointed at the Government’s response to the He Waka Eke Noa partnership proposal.

Executive director Kimberly Crewther says the Government’s proposal is fundamentally different to what He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) put forward. She says DCANZ has raised concerns about how the changes made are pushing a system that achieves a reduction by cutting dairy production.

“In our view, [the proposal] holds a very strong risk of emission leakage, being counterproductive to the global emissions reduction outcomes that we are trying to contribute to,” she told Rural News

Crewther says the agricultural sector had worked hard to come to a consensus, which took into account a broad range of considerations. This included taking advantage of the opportunities that exist in NZ and managing the risk of undue economic impact on rural communities – especially if that involves cuts to production in NZ.

Crewther says DCANZ believes the data set the Government used in its modelling has produced a grossly inaccurate result for the dairy industry.

In its submission, DCANZ says, rather than achieving emissions reductions by cutting agricultural production, which is what the Gov- ernment is proposing, a better approach would be to incentivise the uptake of new tools and practices that reduce emissions. It believes such a move would maintain the