Mitigation in the Land Sector

Transforming land use
is vital to achieve our
net zero future

This was the second of four roundtables bringing together diverse experts from New Zealand and overseas to shed new light on particularly thorny questions for New Zealand’s low-emission transition. You can download a summary of the roundtable discussion to the right.

Mitigation in the Land Sector began with a keynote address by Dr Andy Reisinger, Deputy Director (International) at the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. View the video here or presentation slides here.

The roundtable event was informed by a joint presentation on agricultural mitigation options and policies by Motu Senior Fellow Suzi Kerr and Motu Fellow David Fleming, which you can watch here.

David's slides by themselves are here and Suzi's are here. View the presentation by Suzi Kerr on integrating forestry and agriculture policy options on here or look at the slides alone here.

 From there, participants looked at the following thorny questions:

• What is the case for transformational change in New Zealand’s agriculture sector, and how might it be achieved?
• What are the policy implications of giving different emphasis to different gases according to how we value short- versus long-term climate damages?
• Are on-farm measurement and reporting a barrier to mitigation progress?
• How significant is the potential for emissions leakage from mitigation policies in agriculture?
• Should New Zealand encourage wildings to sequester carbon?
• How can New Zealand incentivise native forests?
• How can we overcome barriers to more tree planting on agricultural land?
• What are the long-term implications of high emission prices for the land sector?

Participation in this roundtable was by invitation only and included experts and decision makers from government, business, research, and civil society organisations. For this roundtable, presentations by keynote speakers and Motu researchers are made public (see agenda below). Discussions involving panellists and audience members were held under the spirit of the Chatham House Rule, where participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) may be revealed. However, individuals may choose to disclose publicly their own participation in the roundtable and contribution to the discussions.

What: E-Mission Possible Roundtable: Mitigation in the Land Sector

When: 8:00am-12:45pm, Friday 8 December 2017

Where: Lecture theatre RHLT3, Rutherford House, Victoria University, Wellington

Agenda

Session 2A: Reducing agricultural emissions

8:00 – 8:30 Registration and morning tea and coffee in front of RHLT3

8:30 – 8:45 Formal mihi and whakatau (Te Aonui) and welcome by the project partners

8:45 – 9:05 Keynote address: Dr Andy Reisinger, Deputy Director (International) at the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre

9:05 - 9:15 Q&A with the audience

9:15 – 9:45 Motu presentation on agricultural mitigation options (Dr David Fleming, Fellow) and agricultural policy options (Dr Suzi Kerr, Senior Fellow)

9:45 – 10:15 Panellists (Phil McKenzie, Damien Farrelly, Francesca Eggelton, and Sam Lang) respond to questions:

1. What is the case for transformational change in New Zealand’s agriculture sector, and how might it be achieved?
2. What are the policy implications of giving different emphasis to different gases according to how we value short- versus long-term climate damages?
3. Are on-farm measurement and reporting a barrier to mitigation progress?
4. How significant is the potential for emissions leakage from mitigation policies in agriculture?

10:15 – 10:45 Discussion with the audience and panellists

10:45 – 11:15 Morning tea (on the Mezzanine level at RHMZ03)

Session 2B: Integrated policy solutions for the land sector

11:15 – 11:35 Motu presentation on integrating forestry and agriculture policy options (Dr Suzi Kerr, Senior Fellow)

11:35 – 12:05 Panellists (Bruce Wills, Victoria Lamb, Ollie Belton, Tom Lambie, and Michael Looker) respond to questions:

1. Should New Zealand encourage wildings to sequester carbon?
2. How can New Zealand incentivise native forests?
3. How can we overcome barriers to more tree planting on agricultural land?
4. What are the long-term implications of high emission prices for the land?

12:05 – 12:30 Discussion with the audience and panellists

12:30 – 12:45 Closing remarks by Catherine Leining: Key points and questions to carry forward to future roundtables