In the lead-up to the G20 meeting in Rome and the COP 26 Summit in Glasgow, and after some necessarily tough negotiations with their Liberal Party Coalition partner, the National Party obtained some concessions it says are designed to prevent the ‘heavy lifting’ of emissions reductions being placed unduly on rural and regional Australia.

The concessions included:

• No legislation to mandate emissions targets;
• Explicitly excluding methane and Scope 3 emissions in any goal;
• Protections for agriculture and resources sectors and the jobs these sectors create;
• A regional growth fund;
• Ensuring carbon credits empower local farmers and benefit regional economies;
• Regular independent reviews on the progress of regional economies; and
• Reforms to allow financing of carbon capture and storage technology.

The exclusion of methane from any emissions reduction goal was particularly important as this meant that Australia did not participate in the international pledge to reduce methane emissions. The National Party view is that such a pledge could have severe consequences for Australian farmers, who are already bearing the largest burden of Australia’s emission reduction target.

Here is some background on the methane debate :

As reported by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, on Friday September 17, President Joe Biden announced a U.S. and European Union initiative to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. The Global Methane Pledge is the first of its kind in the world.

President Biden said the Pledge will be formally announced at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, later this year and urged countries to join it, saying the collective goal was “ambitious but achievable”.

He went on to say – “This will not only rapidly reduce the rate of global warming, but it will also produce valuable side benefits like improving public health and agricultural outputs.”

The reality on the ground is not so rosy.

The Guardian has reported that Dutch farmers could be forced to sell land and reduce the amount of animals they keep to help lower ammonia pollution.

The Netherlands has one of Europe’s largest livestock industries, with more than 100 million cattle, chickens and pigs. It is also the EU’s biggest meat exporter.

Dutch politicians are considering plans to force hundreds of farmers to sell up and cut livestock numbers to reduce damaging ammonia pollution.

Environmentalists have welcomed the plans, saying this could be the shape of things to come across Europe. “It’s a step in the right direction,” said Bram van Liere, campaigner at Friends of the Earth Netherlands. “We would do more on buying out farmers and helping them transition to sustainable agriculture.

“The nitrogen crisis is very severe in the Netherlands, but there’s also very high nitrogen deposition in Germany and Belgium, for instance. I think their huge factory farms will also have to be bought out to comply with the [EU] Habitats Directive and to protect nature.”

This is not to say that the world should not work towards reducing methane emissions as quickly as feasibly possible.

Indeed, Australia is at the forefront of innovation in looking for new ways to both reduce methane emissions and to maintain herd numbers – because the world still needs to be fed.

Emissions produced in the rumen of livestock are responsible for as much as 14.5% of annual greenhouse gases.

The red meat and livestock industry has halved its total emissions since 2005 and current currently contributes 10% of Australia’s GHG emissions – the reduction in GHG emissions is larger than any other industry in Australia. The Australian red meat industry has a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 which will put it ahead of most other industries in Australia and around the world.

The Australian company, FutureFeed, is proud to be part of the pathway with a solution that is proven to drastically lower methane emissions from livestock. (See: FutureFeed: Asparagopsis update)

Feeding cattle a small amount of a seaweed species found in Australia has been shown to reduce their methane emissions by up to 86%.

Supplementing either 0.25 per cent or 0.5 per cent of a cow’s daily feed with Asparagopsis taxiformis — a red seaweed native to Australian coastal waters — results in an average drop in methane production of over 50% and 74% respectively over a 147-day period.

Red seaweed contains a compound that can reduce the production of methane.

Proponents say it could be the equivalent of removing 100 million cars from the road if adopted by the agriculture industry.

Approximately 12% of feed is lost as methane emissions and with feed being the primary expense for producers, maximising feed utilisation efficiency is a prime focus.

The Australian Seaweed Institute has set a target of 4,500 tons of Asparagopsis per annum by 2025. This equates to 250,000 head of beef feedlot cattle which means at any one time, 25% of cattle in our beef feedlots would be eating Asparagopsis. This would remove ~270,000 tons CO2 equivalent/ annum. The report identifies that the seaweed industry has the potential to be a $1.5 billion per annum industry, creating 9,000 jobs and 10% emissions reductions per year.

The Tasmanian-based company, Sea Forest, is cultivating Asparagopsis at a commercial scale.

Nearing the end of a world-first commercial trial to produce Carbon Neutral Wool via the virtues of Asparagopsis seaweed, M.J. Bale Founder Matt Jensen visited Sea Forest in Tasmania.

Here, Sea Forest Founder/CEO, Sam Elsom, talks about the trial’s progress, as well as the broader potential for seaweed in the abatement of greenhouse gas emissions. Later in the video Matt Jensen talks to Kingston farmer, Simon Cameron.

Other solutions are being sought as well. As reported by The Canberra Times, NSW company AgCoTech helps farmers to measure the carbon footprint of their property before they introduce the supplements to the cattle.

Research undertaken by Emeritus Professor Peter Windsor, School of Veterinary Science at The University of Sydney, with support from DFAT and Australia’s Business Partnership Program BPP, found medicated molasses blocks for livestock can reduce smallholder farmer poverty & fight climate change.

These medicated blocks allow ruminant (cattle, sheep etc.) to get the maximum nutritional benefit from their feed, resulting in a significant reduction in methane production from the animals and improving their overall health and productivity, which in turn produces higher milk and meat production.

So, despite arguments raging elsewhere about coal and gas emissions, these and other innovations show that, in agriculture, without the need for a pledge to reduce methane emissions, things are moving forward apace to help solve the two of the biggest challenges of our time: fighting climate change and growing more food with fewer resources.