12. COLIN KING (National—Kaikōura) Link to this
to the Minister of Agriculture
What steps has the Government recently made to progress agricultural greenhouse gas research?
Hon DAVID CARTER (Minister of Agriculture) Link to this
We have taken big steps. For several months I and Tim Groser have been working extremely hard to build international support for the New Zealand concept of a global alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases. This work will come to fruition overnight in Copenhagen, where a significant number of developing and developed nations will join New Zealand to formally establish the alliance. In addition, New Zealand will announce a major funding contribution equalling tens of millions of dollars to the alliance.
The global alliance stands to be the biggest single effort that the world has ever seen aimed at practically addressing the challenge of reducing farming emissions while ensuring that food production meets the demands of a growing world population. The Government proposed the alliance and is supporting it strongly because we are committed to ensuring that farmers have practical and realistic solutions to reduce their emissions.
Hon Damien O’Connor Link to this
Will this new agreement commit the dairy industry to a 25 percent cut in emissions by 2020, as the United States has just announced; if not, why not?