Farmers must not shoulder the burden of meeting the Federal Government’s new emissions target for 2035, the state’s peak farm body has warned.
Farmers have still never been compensated for the billions of dollars in emissions reduction activities they undertook to meet the nation’s Kyoto Protocol commitments – and NSW Farmers warned this new emission target must not trigger any further thefts.
“Before government does anything else on emissions, they need to pay their debts and recognise agriculture’s unique capacity to sequester carbon, not steal it,” NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said.
“Farmers are apprehensive about what this target could mean for them now, after they have already made, and continue to make, huge contributions to carbon sequestration, with the crops they plant and landscapes they look after sequestering millions of tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere.
“Alongside that, Australian farmers are driving a huge number of carbon sequestration activities and projects on-farm to hold carbon in soils or trees, both under management programs and informally. The fact is, we’re well and truly paying for everyone’s carbon sins.”
Engaging properly with the agricultural industry on sustainability was essential, Mr Martin warned, with farmers and food security already under the pump thanks to renewables and reams of green tape that had been imposed on agriculture.
“Not only have billions in carbon credits been stolen from us, but our farm communities are bearing the brunt of the impacts in the race to renewable power,” Mr Martin said.
“Meanwhile, we’re the only sector in the Australian economy that has substantially reduced emissions over the last 30 years, and that data’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to farmer’s contributions to sustainability over the years.
“Farmers have been blamed unfairly and left to foot the carbon bill for too long. That must stop, so we must speak up.”
/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.
AloJapan.com