The National Iwi Chairs Forum climate spokesman Mike Smith welcomes the release of the first report from the Climate Change Commission.

There’s no more denying the urgency of the climate crisis, we haven’t got time to delay climate action says Smith, while our nations emissions have been escalating, other nations are steadily reducing emissions and have been for decades.

“Part of the solution is immediate reduction in the size of the national dairy herd, which is the major source of emissions in Aotearoa - New Zealand,“ Smith goes on to say.

“Reducing the herd would also benefit our distressed rives and lakes by reducing the amount of cow urine and faeces currently spilling into our precious water systems, along with the high levels of nitrates and phosphates that overstocked farms need to artificially produce grass.”

“We look forward to the government developing the policy settings to achieve these targets, and recommend that the Climate Change Commission, as an independent body be given more authority to monitor and enforce compliance.”

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