Westpac Agribusiness Climate Change Report
Climate change will likely have wide implications for New Zealand's primary sector, presenting risks and opportunities to agribusiness operators. In partnership with Westpac New Zealand, the AERU (lead author Professor Anita Wreford) produced research assessing the risks and opportunities presented by climate change to New Zealand agribusiness, as well as the sector's vulnerabilities and potential responses. In particular, the report highlights the importance of farm management agility in climate change adaptation and emissions reduction in line with New Zealand targets.
Some of the key messages of the report include the following:
The majority of adaptations identified in the report are based on changes to the management of the system, with only a few requiring an initial investment of capital. However, the management changes may require significant increases in labour and skills, so a key feature of supporting farmers to adapt to climate change will be in extension work and knowledge exchange.
A range of opportunities also arise from the transition to low carbon agriculture in New Zealand. These include reduced on farm production costs, increased productivity through climate smart farming techniques such as precision agriculture and increased farm profitability through diversification of farming systems.
These types of changes can all get close to, or achieve, New Zealand’s 2030 methane reduction target of ten per cent below 2017 levels. However, achieving reductions above that will require a combination of improved technologies and land use change.
Improving farm management practices is critical for avoiding profit loss, both for physical as well as for transition risks.
This is a key area for further investment, both in research and in the training of rural professionals and supporting extension programmes for farmers and growers.
Lead author Professor Anita Wreford has stated that adaptation will be crucial for New Zealand producers, but has its limitations. "There are very useful actions farmers should consider in the short and medium terms. However, if temperatures rise significantly there will come a time at which current adaptations are no longer effective. That’s one of the many reasons it’s critical every effort is made to avoid as much warming as possible.”
This work is expected to be taken up by a number of end-users, predominantly agribusiness operators, but also policymakers, financial institutions, and the general public. This research was carried out in a number of stages, culminating in a publically-available research report intended for general and agribusiness audiences. The final report in this programme and associated media can be accessed at the links below.