While the transition to net zero emissions is already underway in NSW, not all industries have a straightforward path to net zero emissions – and that’s particularly the case for land and primary industries.
The NSW agriculture industry is a major contributor to the state’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, currently contributing around 18% of the total, mostly in the form of methane.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW DPIRD) has now released the Low Emissions Options Report – a practical guide to help industry and policymakers accelerate emissions reductions and unlock opportunities for a thriving, low-carbon economy.
We partnered with the NSW DPIRD and the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub’s Land and Primary Industries Network to produce the report. It’s an evidence-based guide to reducing emissions and increasing carbon sequestration across agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Key findings
The report considers potential innovation, policy, and investment enablers to help NSW meet its emissions reduction targets and build resilience. It draws on scientific expertise and industry experience to comprehensively assess available options such as:
- feed additives to inhibit methane production in ruminant livestock industries
- biochar as a soil amendment, waste management, and carbon removal strategy
- herd management including breeding for high feed use and low methane production
- small-scale renewables and electrification to replace internal combustion engine use
- the use of biofuels and biodiesel to power machinery and vehicles
- precision fishing activities to minimise fuel use and emissions intensity
- environmental plantings to establish trees on previously deforested land.
Our approach
Climate-KIC Australia designed and facilitated the industry and stakeholder engagement around the report using our Systems Innovation Framework. This approach enabled us to capture industry perspectives on potential emissions reduction approaches to help ensure the decarbonisation pathways included in the report reflected the realities of farmers and industry.
Recognising the interconnected nature of the land and primary industries, our approach helped identify and design effective interventions across multiple levers of change to drive systems-level innovation.
During this process, 117 stakeholders were involved across three rounds of consultation. Stakeholders engaged across NSW included representatives from land management, agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry sectors and subsectors, including representatives of RDCs, key sectoral NGOs, rural businesses, academics, Aboriginal-led, industry associations and representatives of relevant NSW and Australian government agencies.
A key insight we heard from stakeholders was a strong willingness to adopt priority abatement measures where there are clear benefits to profitability, productivity and co-benefits (e.g. improved resilience and biodiversity enhancement). Where these benefits are uncertain or absent, industry indicated the need for additional support to enable uptake.
We also brought a systemic lens to the insights to integrate stakeholder feedback and shape the report’s five focus areas:
- building capability and confidence,
- fit-for-purpose finance and funding
- enabling policy and regulation
- strategic research and development
- demand generation through supply chain coordination
About the project
This work was developed as a collaborative project between the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Climate-KIC Australia and the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub’s Land and Primary Industries Network (LPIN). It was funded by the Primary Industries Productivity and Abatement Program managed by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and the LPIN.
