Listen: DairyNZ supports Interim Climate Change Commission

This week Minister James Shaw announced the members of the Interim Climate Change Committee which will help New Zealand towards becoming a net zero emissions economy.

DairyNZ's Senior Climate Change advisor Kara Lok told The Country Early Edition's Rowena Duncum that DairyNZ is supportive of the Interim Climate Change Committee.

Lok says DairyNZ is pleased to see "world class experts" on the Committee but "we were just hoping to see someone with a bit more farm systems expertise."

The Interim Climate Change Committee will make a decision about whether agriculture should enter the Emissions Trading Scheme.

The dairy sector is responsible for 22.5 percent of all New Zealand's emissions and Lok says reducing emissions is a priority for DairyNZ and is the reasoning behind the Dairy Action for Climate Change plan.

Also in today's interview: Kara Lok talks about Ministry for the Environment's Our Land 2018 report which shows soil degradation in New Zealand is the result of land use change and in particular due to increased urban areas and agriculture.