Hon Jim Anderton

Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity
Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Forestry
Associate Minister of Health
Associate Minister for Tertiary Education
5 November 2008 Media Statement

Minister announces new GHG footprint studies

Four new primary industry sectors have been awarded government funding to further develop carbon footprinting capabilities, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Jim Anderton announced today.

Jim Anderton said the pipfruit, summer fruit, and red meat industries (venison, beef and mutton) have been awarded a total of $500,000 under the second round of funding for greenhouse gas (GHG) footprinting studies to enable them to further develop expertise in measuring and managing emissions across their supply chains

"The GHG footprinting projects will ensure that New Zealand has the capabilities and competitive advantage to meet the increasing demands of global retailers. Carbon footprinting is a growing reality and co-ordinated government, research and industry efforts such as these projects will allow us to meet and lead expectations for carbon footprint information in the future," he said.

All four projects involve collaboration between leading researchers and industry representatives.

Jim Anderton said the New Zealand approach that carbon in footprinting methods are tailored specifically for each sector and with input from producers is unique.

"This means they are not only practical and usable but also integrated and broad enough to meet international standards."

UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), last week launched its draft international carbon footprinting standard - the PAS2050.

"The launch of this standard underscores the importance of doing this work. It will help to ensure that New Zealand can influence the development of international standards and can respond quickly to increasing demands for carbon footprint information for our products," Jim Anderton said.

Seven carbon footprinting projects in the dairy, kiwifruit, wine, lamb, forestry, berry fruit and onion sectors were funded under the first funding round for carbon footprinting projects. The dairy, kiwifruit and wine carbon footprinting projects are now close to completion.

Jim Anderton said significant paybacks are already becoming evident for some of these projects underway. As the sectors are better enabled to track their GHG emissions, the information also provides opportunities to improve performance as reducing emissions can also reduce costs and increase productivity.

Carbon footprinting projects are a key action under the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Footprinting Strategy. The Strategy is a collaborative initiative developed between government, industry and research institutions at the end of 2007.

For more information on the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Footprinting Strategy for the Land-Based Primary Sectors, see http://www.maf.govt.nz/climatechange/slm/ghg-strategy/

ENDS

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