Cows protest Fonterra’s lack of climate action

Press release 26/07/18

A herd of bellowing cows have joined a protest on busy Fanshawe St today, outside Fonterra’s Auckland Office, calling for it to stop sitting on the fence with regard to climate change, and to start taking urgent action to reduce its climate-wrecking emissions from coal burning. Protesters are from Auckland Coal Action, and other local groups that are highly concerned.

Fonterra presents itself as an environmentally friendly business and has joined the recently-formed Climate Leaders Coalition business group. But Auckland Coal Action spokesperson, Peter Whitmore, says that, based on available information, New Zealand’s second largest coal user still has not taken any meaningful steps to reduce its emissions by switching to sustainable fuels or to other processing methods in its major dairy factories.

“The need to rapidly phase out of coal use has now been clearly articulated by many scientists over a long period”, says Whitmore. “It is over 10 years since leading climate scientist, James Hansen, said that to maintain a liveable planet coal must be phased out in developed countries by 2025 and in developing countries by 2030, a finding that has also been backed up by more recent studies.”

“It is essential for industry to do its part so that this country can meet the internationally agreed Paris objective of holding global warming to under 2°C, and preferably to under 1.5°C”, says Whitmore. “Fonterra needs to step up by urgently phasing out all its coal-fired boilers, with the aim of none being operational after 2025 and definitely not after 2030”, he says. This is a challenge, but the assessment of his Auckland Coal Action group and others is that it is achievable, if Fonterra starts right now.

This is also a challenge that Fonterra must not shirk as we are already seeing serious impacts of climate change occurring globally.

ENDS