Farmers speak out on Net Zero – Key facts on climate and pollution reduction goals

Farmers for Climate Action Media Release

In light of recent events and on behalf of its 8,400 farmer members, Farmers for Climate Action points out some key facts.

• The cost of climate change is enormous. Repeat fires, droughts and floods made worse and more frequent by climate change are smashing farmers. Pollution is creating a blanket around the earth and it’s keeping the heat in. 90% of the world’s pollution comes from fossil fuels – burning coal, oil and gas.
• The cost of the 2022 Lismore floods alone was $6.4 billion via 242,000 insurance claims. Bureau of Meteorology records show the number of extreme heat days in Australia has increased tenfold since the 1960s, with 14 extreme heat days in the 1960s and 143 extreme heat days in the 2010s (P3). CSIRO has found climate change is already costing the average farmer $30,000 a year.
• Climate change is sending farm insurance bills through the roof with some now choosing not to insure their farms. The Insurance Council of Australia, which is led by former Federal National Party Director Andrew Hall, stated during the Senate Inquiry into insurance costs and climate change: “Industry and governments need to continue to tackle the underlying driver of worsening extreme weather, climate change, by maintaining a focus on achieving net zero by 2050 with a focus on driving down emissions this decade.”
• Nearly all of Australia’s farm trading partners have net zero commitments, and it’s understood China is currently drafting a carbon border adjustment tariff to apply to other countries not pulling their weight on emissions reduction.
• Energy Institute Data reveals China has streaked ahead of Australia on clean energy with a higher primary consumption of clean energy.
• There are 200 countries which each produce less than 2% of the world’s carbon pollution. If all 200 of those countries abandon pollution reduction, climate change worsens even faster and farmers will suffer more.
• At the time of the Nationals press conference in Canberra on Sunday, electricity was free on the wholesale market across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA because abundant renewable energy had forced the price so low. This happens almost every day between about 10am and about 4pm when solar energy is in the grid. As more storage such as pumped hydro and batteries shift that solar energy from daytime to nighttime, wholesale prices will drop (official data shows wholesale prices actually dropped last quarter). Wind farms tend to produce nighttime energy, so as more of those connect to the grid, this will also put downward pressure on nighttime wholesale energy prices.
• Stopping net zero would not stop the rollout of clean energy projects, because investors are building clean energy to replace unreliable old coal stations which are shutting now, andclean energy with storage is the cheapest and fastest form of electricity generation to build in Australia.
• Farmers are on track to make $1 billion in drought-proof payments from clean energy companies by 2030.
• There is no nuclear without net zero. Legislated net zero commitments are the only signal to investors that a nuclear reactor could be viable (CSIRO research on real world reactors show nuclear is still the most expensive form of energy generation).
• Former Land and Water Australia chief executive Prof Andrew Campbell wrote a paper for FCA titled, Nuclear Power: A new competitor for high security water?

Quotes from farmers:

SA cattle and sheep pastoralist Ellen Litchfield:

“We need politicians to listen to farmers, not fossil fuel billionaires.

“Let’s be clear: coal and gas drive climate change; climate change is smashing farmers and sending farm insurance costs through the roof; ending net zero will not end the rollout of clean energy, and nuclear isn’t viable without net zero commitments.

“We’re being smashed by hotter and longer droughts in my part of the world and we know that burning coal and gas are what drives climate change.

“We sell our beef and lamb all over the world and we need net zero to make sure our trading partners continue to have confidence in Australian produce.”

NSW wheat and sheep farmer Peter Holding:

“Stopping net zero would not stop the rollout of clean energy projects, because investors are building clean energy to replace unreliable old coal stations which are shutting now, and clean energy with storage is the cheapest and fastest form of electricity generation to build.

“At the time of the Nationals press conference in Canberra on Sunday, electricity was free on the wholesale market across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA because abundant renewable energy had forced the price so low. We’ll see more of this as we bring on more storage to release that energy at night, and more wind farms, which produce nighttime energy. Further, there is no nuclear without net zero.

“We need politicians to listen to farmers, not fossil fuel billionaires.”

QLD beef grazier Kylie Burton:

“Climate change is here now and it’s hurting our farm and our family. We’ve endured extreme droughts for over a decade in central Queensland. Farmers rely on a stable climate, so protecting farmers and food security means protecting the climate.

“We’ve had to completely change our business because other industries have been polluting the climate – they should have to change their ways.”

TAS dairy and beef farmer and Nuffield Scholar Iain Field:

“Most Australians probably think of Tasmania as a wet place with lots of rainfall, but even in Tasmania we’ve now seen climate change bringing us worse droughts. We need serious pollution reduction this decade to protect our farmers.”

VIC sheep farmer Luella Drinnan:

“Climate change costs farming families money. Agriculture is one of Australia’s most valuable sectors and climate change directly compromises farming businesses. On my family farm, looking after the environment is just best practice farming. As a nation, we need to reduce emissions and work towards net zero by 2050 to protect our farming businesses, food supply and agricultural sector.”

WA cropper Kit Leake:

“We as farmers are doing our best to deal with climate change, and so should all other industries have to.”

“Losing a net zero target will affect our export markets, the buyers are so passionate about it they will go elsewhere.”

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