From “pathetic” offshore wind energy technology, to livestock emission plans heading “in the right direction”, British environmentalist Sir Jonathon Porritt tells Katy Jones what Aotearoa is doing well - and not so well – tackling the climate crisis.
Jonathon Porritt raises his eyebrows when I ask if Aotearoa’s farming sector might be on the right track to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
He has just been describing moves by New Zealand multinational meat company, Silver Fern Farms, to produce net zero carbon beef for the American market – paying its Kiwi farmers a premium for the CO2 they sequester , through “insetting” (gaining carbon credits from the carbon sequestered on their farms, rather than elsewhere).
New Zealand may have come a long way since the uproar 20 years ago after the government first tried to introduce a levy on methane emissions from livestock – when farmers “invaded” Wellington, and the government backed down – he said.
The fact there was now a scheme for a levy on cows, put together by farmers, iwi representatives and the government, with the proceeds paying for research to help farmers innovate to become lower carbon farmers, was “definitely moving in the right direction”.
“But it's not a very ambitious target.The target is only for a 10% reduction in methane by 2030. Honestly, that's just barely trying.”
Even big buyers of Fonterra milk, Nestle and Danone, said the target was not ambitious, Porritt told me when I met him at the Cawthron Institute in Nelson – New Zealand's largest independent science organisation.
England-based Porritt added the Cawthron Institute to his places to visit in New Zealand in December, after Volker Kuntzsch was appointed chief executive in 2021.
“I've known Volker for a long time. He and I did some work on international fishing issues ... when he was at Sanford.”
Kuntzsch was now co-chair of The Aotearoa Circle, a voluntary initiative Porritt co-founded to try to help reverse the decline of natural resources in New Zealand.
Porritt’s visit just before Christmas also coincided with a meeting of the Air New Zealand Sustainability Advisory Panel – of which he was chair.
His association with Kiwi environmental initiatives stemmed back to his time living in New Zealand, when his father was appointed Governor-General in 1967.
The young Porritt developed a passion for the environment while planting trees and working on farms in Aotearoa.
Returning to England in the 1970s, he now has a long list of environmental credentials to his name.
Chair of the Ecology Party (now the Green Party of England and Wales) in the 1980s, a director of environmental campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth, and co-founder of the sustainable development charity, Forum for the Future.
He was made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2000 for services to environmental protection, and has written several books on issues including the climate emergency.
A book he published on the politics of ecology, in 1984, was found 30 years later to be prophetic in many respects.
What was needed globally to become net-zero by 2050, included vast investment in renewable energy, he said.
As far as offshore wind went, New Zealand could be doing a lot better.
“New Zealand is utterly pathetic when it comes to offshore wind.
“New Zealand has a huge amount of coastline. The wind blows quite a lot in many parts of New Zealand. And if people really wanted to double down and get some proper, large scale new renewable electricity into the system, then offshore wind is the way to go.”
He was less enamoured with hydrogen energy – “blue” or “grey” hydrogen at least.
“It really bugs me that people talk about hydrogen as the cleanest fuel.
“It's a clean fuel when you burn it. But to make it, is not clean.”
Ninety-five % of today’s 70 million tonnes of hydrogen production depended on burning huge amounts of either gas or coal, he said.
He was in favour of “green” hydrogen, produced using renewable electricity, but it would take time to scale up, and was expensive.
Green hydrogen would play an important part in decarbonising some so-called “hard-to-abate” industries like steel, fertilisers, cement and possibly aviation, but that was all, he said.
The aircraft manufacturer Airbus was very focused on hydrogen as the fuel source of the future, but it would be a “massive technological challenge”.
“You need to carry a lot of hydrogen to get that plane to fly thousands of kilometres.
“So you're not going to get long haul flights using hydrogen.”
Air New Zealand‘s target of substituting 10% of its planes’ fuel with Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) by 2030 would be very demanding, due to limited availability of SAF, he said.
Rapid progress was being made on electric planes, with the airline looking to have a commercially-operated electric plane flying passengers at some point after 2026, Porritt said.
For short haul flights, electric planes would become the dominant way of substituting for jet fuel, he predicted.
Air New Zealand – 50% government owned – was among companies that would have to declare the financial consequences of its climate risk, which would help ordinary shareholders “wake up” to the costs, he said.
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Environmental research was another area where New Zealand could benefit from greater financial backing, Porritt said.
Aotearoa could be a world leader in the field if the government increased and accelerated funding for such research organisations, he said.
New Zealand's biodiversity had been “absolutely hammered” over the last 30,40 years.
The country’s future prosperity depended on its natural capital.
So there was also every reason to prioritise funding for places like Cawthron Institute from a “self-interested” point of view, he said.
The institute specialised in science that supported the environment and development within primary industries, with its scientists including experts in aquaculture, marine and freshwater resources and food safety.
“New Zealanders love the marine environment, fishing industries are hugely important to New Zealand's exports.”
Water quality had been affected in New Zealand and elsewhere, by pine forestry blocks not being well-managed, Porritt said.
The government shouldn’t be “taken in by the notion that all trees anywhere are good”, because the right trees needed to be planted in the right place to get the benefits of carbon sequestration.
“I don't understand why the government has failed to come forward with really smart ways of encouraging investment in native forest.
“It makes sense for New Zealand to say we can really lead on many of these different controversial areas, how we manage our environment in particular.”
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