The government is attempting to pass a bill that will remove agriculture from the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, an important policy tool that incentivizes different economic sectors to reduce GHG emissions.

We think that this is a backwards and harmful bill that will make it easier to intensify the impacts of the climate crisis and make us all worse off, including farmers! Generation Zero created a submission to tell the government to stop any further work on this bill. Please read our submission below!

Generation Zero is a youth-led climate justice organisation. We were established in 2011 to create localised climate action and ensure that rangatahi have a voice in the climate movement and policy. We strongly oppose the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme Agricultural Obligations) Amendment Bill for four main reasons, outlined below. We urge the government to halt any further progress on this amendment bill and instead include agriculture in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZETS).

• The Bill Stalls Aotearoa’s Climate Change Mitigation Efforts

Aotearoa currently emits four times more greenhouse gases per capita than the global average, with 49% of these coming from the agricultural sector. Despite that, ever since the introduction of the NZETS, agriculture has been the only sector in the country which has been exempt from emissions trading targets. The Government’s official advice from Manatū Mō Te Taiao Ministry for the Environment made clear that not only will this legislation make it far more difficult for Aotearoa to reach our emission reduction targets - a critical goal for alleviating some of the worst effects of climate change - but that it will also make it much harder to place any price on agricultural emissions in the future. The decision to avoid environmental responsibility and defer the introduction of emissions pricing on the country’s largest emitters defies belief. Generation Zero believes that the NZETS is a crucial policy mechanism to reduce our GHG emissions and that letting New Zealand’s most polluting industry off the hook is stalling the necessary action we must take to ensure a viable present and future for our people and the planet.

• The Rest of Aotearoa Pays for Free Agricultural Emissions

As it stands, the burden of agricultural emissions falls on several groups: on other industries and businesses included in the ETS; on households across the motu; and, most of all, on rangatahi and future generations. This bill will let farmers keep emitting scot-free, pushing up the emissions and decarbonisation price for other sectors such as the energy industry – who would doubtlessly pass their increased costs on to consumers. This would be a deeply irresponsible path to go down for a Government claiming to be committed to meeting our climate targets and dealing with the cost of living crisis. 

The effects of this legislation and the exacerbated climate impacts that will result from it will be felt disproportionately by those already facing challenges and marginalisation. Many of those living in areas prone to coastal inundation are Māori or are on low incomes. Environmental changes such as higher temperatures, sea level rise and ocean acidification, among others, will critically endanger taiao of enormous importance in Te Ao Māori. The costs of cleaning up the climate mess will also fall on future generations, as opposed to those responsible for the emissions and systems leading us there in the first place. Generation Zero therefore believes that we must increase our climate mitigation action and ensure that polluters take accountability for their actions and pay, rather than offloading the damage onto communities who are already paying the price. Agricultural emissions can and must not be free. 

• Farmers Benefit from Climate Action and Climate Justice Too

Sustainable agriculture is dependent on a stable, healthy land and the climate crisis is already impacting and continues to threaten this possibility. In 2019, 52% of farmers felt that their livelihoods were already being impacted moderately or majorly by climate change and the increasingly severe weather patterns we are facing. With 2024 breaking daily global temperature records time and again, the agricultural industry is feeling the heat: hotter temperature puts crops, livestock, and water availability at risk. We’ve also seen an increased frequency of other extreme events, such as cyclones and heavy rainfall events which damage crops. The variety of these extreme weather events and their numerous effects leaves farmers uncertain about their livelihoods and adds a great workload on them to constantly adapt to changing landscapes and climates.

92% of farmers in New Zealand have already made changes or improvements to ensure the environmental sustainability of their farms in the future. Passing this bill not only undermines their efforts, but also discredits their lived realities, which include increased pressure and challenges for workers on the land. Generation Zero believes this bill is harmful to farmers who are already suffering from the impacts of climate change. We must ensure that they are supported in the just transition towards farming practices that are viable on a changing planet. Therefore, this bill must not pass.

• Māori Voices are Being Cut Out of the Conversation

Further, Generation Zero are highly disappointed at how this bill fails to consider the Crown’s obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. He Waka Eke Noa may have lacked sufficient mechanisms to guarantee that agricultural emissions would decline in the long-term. But its core strength was the partnership between the agricultural sector and iwi, ensuring that Māori voices would always be around the decision-making table. This legislation scraps this partnership, while failing to make any further reference to iwi or Te Tiriti. For the Government to remove all Te Ao Māori perspectives from the pathway to reducing agricultural emissions in Aotearoa shows a flagrant disregard for the tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga of mana whenua. Tangata whenua must not be excluded from this legislative process.  

We urge the Government not to adopt the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme Agricultural Obligations) Amendment Bill. Instead, we encourage that the Government allow the planned introduction of the agricultural sector into the NZETS, while urgently working in partnership with Māori and iwi to find an improved mechanism for reducing agricultural emissions and environmental pollution. The proposed bill takes a concerning step backwards in Aotearoa’s emissions reduction journey and fails to acknowledge the central role of Māori in this process. 

Ngā mihi,

Generation Zero