Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Provocative billboards target Ravensdown and Ballance

Provocative billboards target Ravensdown and Ballance over river pollution


Thursday 6th December: Greenpeace is pulling no punches in its new campaign to ban synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and save New Zealand’s rivers.

The environmental organisation has installed provocative billboards on arterial routes around the country in time for the summer.

The no-frills billboards read; ‘Ravensdown and Ballance pollute rivers. #TooManyCows’.

On the latest tactic Greenpeace campaigner Gen Toop says "Ravensdown and Ballance are the river and climate polluters that many New Zealanders have never heard of. Our billboards are just the first step in making these dirty companies a household name."

Two of the Greenpeace billboards are being installed just a stone’s throw from the Ravensdown company headquarters in Christchurch and Ballance’s in Mount Maunganui.

Ravensdown and Ballance together supply 98% of all fertiliser to NZ farms.

Greenpeace has taken issue with synthetic nitrogen fertiliser because of its links to the industrialisation of agriculture, particularly dairying.

"Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is the fuel that drives industrial dairying. It’s spread onto New Zealand dairy farms to grow more grass for too many cows" says Toop.

The use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser in New Zealand has increased seven-fold since 1990. In the same period, dairy cow numbers have doubled. The dairy industry is the biggest user.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"Too many cows and too much synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is trashing our rivers and causing climate breakdown."

Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser acts as a double whammy, damaging both rivers and the climate.

Increasing the number of cows through the use of synthetic nitrogen increases the amount of nitrate pollution getting into rivers from urine patches. On top of that the product can directly run off and leach nitrate pollution into waterways.

For the climate, the increase in cows causes increases in ruminant methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions from urine patches. On top of that, synthetic nitrogen fertiliser can directly emit nitrous oxide - a dangerous and long-lived greenhouse gas.

Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is also the main cause of the breach in the safe planetary boundary for the nitrogen cycle. Scientists have identified the 9 ‘safe planetary boundaries’ as the set of ecological limits within which we must stay if the planet can continue sustaining human life.

The impacts of the nitrogen cycle breach are already being seen around the world, in the rapid growth in freshwater pollution, oceanic dead zones, and the spike in nitrous oxide emissions.

Greenpeace is unequivocal about the urgency and scale of action needed on the issue.

"We are facing mass starvation, human displacement and suffering, and extinction of wildlife because of climate change. Meanwhile, our rivers and lakes are dying, and our drinking water is becoming contaminated,"says Toop.

"We are literally going to hell in a handbasket if this Government refuses to take serious action against industrial livestock farming and its enabler, synthetic nitrogen fertiliser."

Regenerative farming methods have been proven to produce the same amount of food, and retain farmer profitability without using any synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.

"The Government must ban synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, reduce cow numbers and massively invest in regenerative farming," says Toop.

ENDS


© Scoop Media

 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.