High-profile US dietician and sustainability advocate Diana Rodgers is attending the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on behalf of Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ).
COP27, which began on 6 November and closes on 18 November, is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference.
It is used by governments to agree on policies to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change. Rodgers will be joined by more than 90 heads of state and representatives of 190 countries.
Rodgers is a vocal advocate of the need to include animal products in a balanced diet and visited New Zealand earlier this year on a trip co-funded by B+LNZ and Federated Farmers.
During her time in New Zealand, she talked to media and farmers to help the sector push back against the false narrative that eating meat is unsustainable, unhealthy, and unethical.
COP revolves around the Paris Agreement, which says nations must keep their global warming below 2 degrees Celsius and try to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), of which B+LNZ sits on the board, is also in attendance. B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor says the GRSB will also be advocating on farmers’ behalf, especially on the use of GWP*.
“COP provides an opportunity to build a consensus with like-minded partners on issues like using GWP* as an appropriate metric to measure the warming impact of various gases, that livestock production can be sustainable, and the importance of red meat and trade in supporting international food security,” he says.
B+LNZ has been calling for the New Zealand Government to review the methane targets using a more appropriate metric like GWP*, and to report on warming as well as emissions, for more than two years.
GWP* scales emissions over time, and better accounts for the different warming behaviours of short-lived gases like methane than the widely used GWP100 metric, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed overstates the impact of methane when emissions are not increasing, as is the case in New Zealand.
“B+LNZ has repeatedly said we don’t agree with New Zealand’s high methane targets and has called for better measurement and reporting,” says McIvor.
“Using the right metric, like GWP*, is extremely important regardless of where in the world you’re farming.
“It’s important for us all to be aligned and understand that we need an appropriate metric to assess the impact of livestock on warming accurately.”
The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, commissioned by B+LNZ and the Meat Industry Association of New Zealand (MIA), also confirmed the carbon footprint of New Zealand beef and lamb is amongst the lowest in the world.
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For more information, please contact B+LNZ’s James Ford on 027 235 9806 or email media@beeflambnz.com