Federated Farmers believes the final Climate Change Commission report released today will need to be backed up with significant investment in improving access to science and technology on farm, and the people needed to operate it.

Back in February Feds was relatively upbeat about the report and the challenges it posed for New Zealanders, and their government. But there were areas where Feds felt the analysis and the science was not reliable.

As was said back in February, Feds is wary of any policy direction which assumes tougher regulation will force behaviour change.

"To expect landowners to make land use changes based on the weight of regulation they face, rather than market forces, is unreliable and unlikely to deliver lasting improvements," Andrew says.

Right now farmers and growers are feeling totally slammed by regulation changes, uncertain international markets and desperate labour force shortages.

"It would have been heartening for us to see the Commission acknowledge these pressures and recommend non-regulatory solutions.

"Now we will wait to see if the government’s Emissions Response Plan, due by the end of the year, can take us further together without slamming farmers and growers even harder," Andrew says.

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