The previous target was between 24 and 47%.<\/p>\n
Farmers \u2013 who had taken issue with the previous target \u2013 praised the move, but scientists and opposition parties criticised it as \u201cweak\u201d and \u201cunambitious\u201d.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace\u2019s New Zealand office said the policy shift \u201camounts to full-blown climate denial\u201d.<\/p>\n
Amanda Larsson, a climate campaigner with the environmental group, said prime minister Christopher Luxon was \u201cchoosing … corporate profits over our kids\u2019 future\u201d.<\/p>\n
Climate change minister Simon Watts said the government \u201cremains committed to our domestic and international climate change commitments, including net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgriculture will continue to make an important and fair contribution to achieving this reduction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The government also confirmed that it would conduct a legislated review of biogenic methane targets in 2040, and impose no tax on agricultural methane emissions due to the threat of farm closures.<\/p>\n
It will also invest NZ$400m (US$230m) in methane-cutting technology.<\/p>\n
Watts said total agricultural emissions could fall by up to 14% over the next decade if 30% of farmers adopted technologies expected to be available before 2030.<\/p>\n
But Massey University climate mitigation expert Ralph Sims said there was \u201cno guarantee\u201d that scientific research would provide near-term solutions to biogenic methane, which include those belched out by the country\u2019s five million cows and 23 million sheep.<\/p>\n
Agriculture accounts for almost half of New Zealand\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, according to government figures.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for Climate Action, an advocacy group, said the reduced target risked tarnishing New Zealand\u2019s international standing.<\/p>\n
Jocelyn Turnbull, a principal scientist at government-funded institute Earth Sciences New Zealand, also said it could harm New Zealand\u2019s \u201cclean and green\u201d image.<\/p>\n
But Federated Farmers of New Zealand, an agricultural lobby group, said the change was \u201clong overdue\u201d. President Wayne Langford said previous methane reduction targets had been \u201cabsolute madness\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFarming families have been under huge pressure for a long time now \u2013 but it looks like that\u2019s finally coming to an end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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