Carbon footprint of New Zealand beef and lamb:
New research has confirmed the carbon footprint of New Zealand beef and lamb is amongst the lowest in the world. The study was commissioned by Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) and Meat Industry Association (MIA).
The comprehensive study by AgResearch has found that a kilo of New Zealand sheep meat has a carbon footprint of just under 15 kilograms (kgs) of CO2 equivalent emissions per kilo.
Meanwhile, the carbon footprint of New Zealand beef is just under 22kgs – making the country’s red meat among the most efficient in the world.
The researchers, which compared New Zealand’s on-farm emissions to a range of countries’ footprints across the globe, concluded that when Kiwi beef or sheep meat is exported, the total carbon footprint is lower or very similar to domestically-produced red meat in those nations.
They concluded that this is because New Zealand is so efficient at the farm level, which represents about 90-95 per cent of the total carbon footprint.
New Zealand’s on-farm footprint was about half the average of the other countries in the study.
Based on the research, analysis shows eating red meat two to three times a week, over the course of an entire year, is just under the carbon footprint of a single passenger’s return flight from Auckland to Christchurch.
As the world’s second-biggest exporter of lamb and one of the largest beef exporters, sustainable farming is a critical part of the country’s red meat sector strategy.
AgResearch scientists also measured the carbon footprint of New Zealand beef and sheep meat using an emerging approach known as GWP*, which determines a carbon footprint based on a product’s actual contribution to the warming of the planet over a period of time, rather than the total emissions.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that the traditional GWP100 method overstates the impact of methane when this gas is not increasing, as is the case in New Zealand.
The calculation using GWP* for the period 1998 to 2018 showed that when taking into account sequestration – trees and other vegetation on farms absorbing emissions – New Zealand’s sheep meat is arguably “climate neutral” and New Zealand beef is also well on the way towards that.
According to this calculation, over the last 20 years, New Zealand sheep meat has not added any additional warming. Absolute greenhouse emissions from New Zealand sheep and beef farming had decreased by 30 per cent since 1990.
The research “proved beyond doubt” that New Zealand beef and sheep meat had one of the lightest carbon footprints for red meat in the world.
Although the research showed Kiwi sheep and beef farmers were among the most efficient in the world, continuous improvement was still required. It shows that sheep and beef farmers have done a great job over the last 20-30 years, but we arguably still need to do more.
New Zealand’s farmers remain committed to making a contribution to achieving scientifically-justified emissions targets in order to keep a lid on global temperature rises, but this needs to be fair, based on science and reflect reality.
The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the proposal for pricing agricultural emissions in New Zealand and stated that we are going to be the first to introduce emissions pricing for agriculture and we will lead the world in climate policy even though the science of calculating the levels of sequestration on farm, are still so far from being confirmed.
In relation to the sequestration of CO2 the government has said that if it doesn’t fit into the criteria used in their modelling then it doesn’t qualify for the ETS carbon credits. The problem that most rural people have with this answer is that it just doesn’t make any real sense and doesn’t match up with the facts of the matter.
Vegetation absorbs CO2 whether it fits within their criteria or not, as long as it is alive so how is it that some vegetation can qualify but other cannot. It is not only wrong but this decision defies scientific credibility.
The Government’s own modelling has suggested that the result of this decision to introduce the tax on emissions will see sheep and beef farming reduced by 20% and dairying by 5%. This is equivalent to the entire wine industry and half of the seafood industry being wiped out.
The wholesale planting of trees on good sheep and beef country will dramatically increase. And to make matters worse in the Government’s own words, “world agricultural emissions could increase not decrease”. That fact alone is enough to make the small rural communities that will be decimated by this decision; rise up in opposition to it.
An independent report commissioned by Beef + Lamb New Zealand has found more than 52-thousand hectares was bought by forestry interests in 2021, a 36 percent increase on the previous two years. Beef + Lamb Chief Executive, Sam McIvor, says over the past six years the country has lost 775-million dollars’ worth of export income.
We don’t need to lead the world in climate change and I wonder why we would want to ruin our economy at this point in time when there are so many other factors in play. This seems to be just another example of the government making hasty decisions without adequate analysis of the risks and the New Zealand citizens being the ones to pay the ultimate price, with rapidly increasing inflation and costs of living.