SBC and CLC welcome the new Centre for Climate Action on Agricultural Emissions
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome the announcement today of a new Centre for Climate Action on Agricultural Emissions to oversee a transformational approach to tackling New Zealand’s agricultural emissions.
A group of SBC and CLC primary sector companies have been working with government on a joint venture that will see a step-change in public and private investment in applied R&D in agriculture to unlock solutions to the challenge of biogenic methane.
Today’s announcement is an important step in establishing that joint venture which will accelerate the reduction of agricultural-related emissions.
“New Zealand’s agricultural emissions account for the greatest proportion of our total national greenhouse gas emissions,” says SBC Executive Director Mike Burrell.
“This presents a serious risk to the New Zealand economy but also a huge opportunity. A joint public-private approach with a focus on commercialisation and innovation will significantly raise the prospect of achieving ambitious methane emissions reduction. It also demonstrates the impact we can have when government and business work together.”
The SBC consortium is committed to playing its part to capitalise the Centre and ensure its success.
SBC looks forward to working with MPI to finalise the establishment of the Centre and getting started with this work that will be critical to meeting our emissions budgets and long-term transition goals.
About SBC
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) is a CEO-led membership organisation with more than 120 businesses from all sectors, ambitious for a sustainable New Zealand. Members represent more than $111 billion of collective turnover, 34% of GDP, and more than 179,000 full-time jobs. Our network gives members unparalleled influence and the ability to take large-scale collective action. SBC is part of the BusinessNZ network and is the New Zealand Global Network partner to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. www.sbc.org.nz
About CLC
The Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) was launched in July 2018 to promote business leadership and collective action on climate change. With 105 signatories, they now account for almost 60% of New Zealand’s gross emissions, around 38% of GDP, and employ almost 220,000 people. Signatory commitments include measuring and publicly reporting their greenhouse gas emissions, setting a public emissions reduction target, and working with suppliers to reduce their emissions. www.climateleaderscoalition.org.nz
